On A Wing and a Prayer
by Antigone2
Summary: Silver Millennium. Rated T for some minor violent imagery at the end. Romance, of course, but nothing "Adult". Note: old fic of mine I found and fixed up, but first time posted here.
1. Chapter 1

AN:

I wrote this story over ten years ago and recently found it (thank you Wayback Machine!). I decided to edit the hell out of it and post it.

I was thinking of attempting another Sil Mil fic in the future, too. I'm just so interested in different people's take on what it was like and how the war started and how the relationship was because the two kingdoms and what, exactly, happened to end it. This is one version I liked in my head and I still like it and that's why I'm giving this fic a second chance.

Please do share your thoughts by reviewing, that is, if you liked it.

You can also check out my other fics, which are also very old and were posted a long time ago but still could be fun reads.

Originally "published"

April 23, 2000

**Prologue: Lullaby**

"I would like a bedtime story, please." The little boy requested formally, not the way a child would normally ask for a nighttime ritual as tender as bedtime stories. However, the woman he was asking, although kind to him, was not his mother and never would be.

However, despite the boy's constant formal, stiff behavior, the old woman knew he was desperately hurting inside, and struggling to be strong. A struggle she knew he would have to endure for years, and a struggle that gave a small thing like a story such deep importance.

"Ok," she answered him, smoothing the sheets on his ornate canopy bed, "A quick one, before the mistress catches me."

He smiled and nodded, before obediently shutting his eyes. Leaning back against the carved headboard, the woman let her old eyes drift up the beautiful full moon. "Would you like to hear about the angels?"

Nod.

"Well," she began, a serene smile settling over her wrinkled face, "there are creatures that watch us from above, comforting us in need and protecting us from harm. They are messengers, although for what or whom is often argued. But it is true they bring love."

"How far away are they?"

The woman sighed, pleasantly, "Oh, very far, but very close. It is said they dwell in heaven, where the clouds drift and the stars shine very close by.

The white, magic light of the moon is their transport and their way to protect us."

The boy was still, his face unreadable, but his breathing was not slow or regular, so the woman figured he was still awake.

"They are beautiful, these angels. If you were to ever lay eyes on one it is said your breath dies in your mouth and you will never be the same. White, pure white they seem to glow, it is said, with love and purity. There are many debates about whether they have wings, or halos, or maybe if male and female angels exist, like they do here on Earth. Either way, though, it is agreed there is no equal to what an angel is like. Not here, or anywhere."

Softly the woman wove her comforting stories of unconditional love and celestial devotion from creatures unseen. To her mind, she was telling the absolute truth. Meanwhile, the little boy lay in his huge, empty bed and watched the woman leave the room quietly through his eyelashes. The stories were beautiful, he thought, but they are just that. Stories.

The angels couldn't help him before, and they would never help him now. If he had to grow up to rule the world, he had to be strong. And angels were visions not for the strong.

He fell asleep, not realizing he had purposely moved to the edge of the bed, to be cuddled up in the beam of light that fell from the moon through his window.

**Part One: Angel**

There was a noticeable lack of conversation between the two Earthbeings that were projected on to most of the monitors which were humming softy in the moon palace's Main Communications* room. Besides the soft din of hushed speaking and echoing soft taps of footfalls on the marble floor throughout the shimmering chamber, there was nothing but silence from the two figures on the huge screen angled down from the sculpted moldings.

The blue eyes of Prince Endymion were common fixtures in this room, for he was the one they watched the most, the most important human, being Heir Apparent to the throne of the entire planet.

However, the flash of brilliant red hair beside him was new. This woman had just recently been spending time and attentions on the rather unresponsive young prince, and the Main Communications staff were almost starting to get used to her.

Running her hands along the red blossoms of the strange earth flower the prince was standing near, the red-head cleared her throat a little.

The sound caused a few pairs of Lunar eyes to rise the screens, but little else was done.

"Prince?" she asked timidly, titling her head and looking at him with nervous adoration.

He didn't answer for so long she assumed it was okay to speak. "Did you hear about the story of the angels?" her voice was amused, a little scornful.

Startling, he looked up at her. "Angels?"

Surprised that the man actually reacted to her question, the green-eyed woman nearly lost herself in the stormy blue eyes her companion had turned impatiently toward her. "Um... yes. It's some bizarre servants' fairy tale. Been told for ages. Something about beings watching us from above, protecting us," she smirked a little. "Absurd, is it not?"

The dark-haired man was silent for a while, whirling the flower in his hand absentmindedly. "Yes," he answered automatically, "but some people need to believe in intangible things." The flower's sharp thrones scraped the tender skin between his fingers, but he didn't notice.

First in Command of the Royal Senshi to Her Majesty Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom; Her Lady Venus watched this conversation with an expressionless face. Shaking her head, the all-knowing senshi of love murmured, "She isn't the one for you, Endymion." 'Another one who isn't for you.'

"V-chan?" a soft voice came from behind the taller girl, and Venus turned to find herself staring into the dusty blue eyes of her Princess.

"Serenity," Venus sighed, "You can't keep doing this."

The princess lowered her head, twisting and tangling her pale fingers through her silver shimmered locks of hair. "I just wanted to see if the rumors about the red-head where true-"

"It shouldn't matter to you." Venus said firmly.

But it was too late. The gray-blue eyes were already fixed on the largest monitor, as dreamy as when she always came into the communications room, but also a little misty, dimming. "I guess they are true," she said needlessly as she watched the girl talk to Endymion.

"Princess, with all due respect, I'm sure you have someplace more important to be-" the golden-haired senshi took the smaller girl's arm gently but firmly.

Twisting from her grasp, Serenity hurriedly took a few weightless steps

forward toward the large screen. "I just want to hear what they are saying."

It had been a while since Endymion had spoken and the woman was obviously searching her mind for something to say. "Do you?" she finally asked.

"Do I what, Beryl?" His voice was smooth, low and intoned with depths

Serenity could listen to all day. Yet his tone was always so harsh and cold, and the little princess could take a little joy in hearing it spoken to her Earthly rival that way.

"Do you believe in the intangible?"

He smirked a little, lifted his eyes toward the sky. Directly into the monitor. Whenever he did that, Serenity's heart stopped. He always somehow looked directly at her.

"Like angels, you mean?" he said, amused, "No, I don't believe we are being watched over by other beings." He laughed a little, a dark sound to Serenity's ears. "I don't believe in things you can't see and touch, Lady Beryl, where would I be if I did?" And with that he turned and left the gardens.

One or two monitors stayed on the bewildered Lady Beryl before they were changed to other things: the four continents, the generals, the land illuminated by the full moon lending its celestial, pale light to the sleeping earth.

And Serenity's tear-filled eyes stayed on the figure of Endymion, whose face was filling her vision from the largest screen, until Venus came to gently lead her away.

* * *

><p>The soft shear curtains fluttered inward as the sweet smelling warm wind breathed around the palace ground. Between their white ghostliness stars twinkled above the clear crystal sky. Serenity sighed.<p>

Suddenly a heavy, leather-bound book fell into her hands.

Sighing, the princess lifted her eyes, "Mercury," she nearly whined, "I do not want to study right now. Please, please can we do this another time. It's late."

Blue locks fell into Senshi Mercury's eyes and the girl shook her head.

"No, Princess, you've had all the day. The fact that the hour is late has nothing to do with the amount of study you have still not finished."

A strong arm encircled Serenity's small shoulders, "Ah, and when she's done, Serenity, we can all go look at the stars and dream." Senshi Jupiter smiled a little, "That was what you were doing, right?"

Linking her figures and stretching her arms out, the princess let a small smile curve her lips. "Yes," she said softly into the warm night, "I was dreaming."

"That's nothing new," a new voice rode on the soft air to Serenity's ears, teasing gently. Senshi Mars and Venus stood in the doorway, shaking their heads.

"What is this, now, Senshi?" Mercury asked, her sweet lilt marred only slightly by irritation, "A party? I hardly think this is what her majesty needs right now."

"'Her Majesty'? Mercury, do you see any guards or courtiers in this room right now?" Senshi Mars asked, raising her eyebrow with a smirk.

"Well-"

"Then, forget the formalities, Serenity is Serenity and she is still a lazy little twit who refuses to study and instead stares at earth all night, when she isn't in Communications going all moony over a certain pair of blue eyes." Throughout her decidedly clever little speech, Mars had positioned herself to the princess's left, locking her arm, as Jupiter did, around Serenity's shoulders.

Letting a soft rose glow cover her cheeks, Serenity shrugged sheepishly.

"Ah, Mars, you have always been the waxing poetic." Venus said from her spot in the doorway. The oldest of the girls in the room, their leader just watched them with a silent, tolerant smile.

Jupiter just grinned. "Now, my dear little princess," she said, "Let's study."

Biting her lip, Serenity started to stand up, "Excuse me, but I ha-" the strength of Jupiter and Mars's cleverly placed arms kept her from moving more than an inch before falling softly back onto her bed.

"Now, Princess," Mercury smiled, "how do you expect to rule a planet if you cannot learn your royal history?"

Shutting her eyes, the girl groaned, loudly. "Just because you are all four years older than me**, you think I can be bossed around!"

Gentle laughter shook the girls next to her, "Oh dear Serenity, if only

you didn't *need* bossing around," Mars said, "we could leave you to your own devices, if only that included studying and work."

Graceful fingers tugged open the heavy book that lay in her lap, and Serenity let locks of silver glide over the floor as she leaned forward to squint at the small symbols and gleamed in gold on the parchment pages.

She sighed. "This is really quite boring, guys."

"It is not boring! It is important!" Mercury said, using an age-old argument on her small, unwilling pupil.

"All the great rulers must learn these things," Venus added reasonably, "Your mother and her mother before her, as well as the other lords and political leaders of the Silver Alliance."

Mars grinned cheekily at the girl next to her, "And I'm sure the great Prince Endymion of Earth keeps up with all his studies and lessons."

This sort of teasing was common among the girls, and it came to shock to all except Venus when Serenity tensed under Mars's arm and slammed the book closed so it echoed throughout her chambers.

"And if he does? What does that have to do with me?" she cried, breaking out of Jupiter's grasp and standing up, tears of anger and hurt filling her eyes. "Would I stop believing in beauty, magic a-and love and loyalty and everything I stand for? Why would I ever want to be as cold-hearted as him?"

The book flew across the room and landed, open on the floor of the room, face down. Gasping, Princess Serenity covered her mouth with her hands.

A shocked, stilled silence filled the room. The senshi wouldn't have been more surprised if Serenity had pulled a sword on them for commenting on the weather. She was prone to spouts of attitude, yes, or daydreaming, or disrespectful, humorous behavior like blowing Venus a raspberry when she called her in for dinner, but this... this was just so unlike her.

"Serenity?" Mercury murmured softly, reaching out to touch the girl's arm.

Jumping, gray-blue eyes seemed to survey the room as if they had never seen the place before, swimming with tears when she saw the book on the floor.

" I'm sorry," she gasped, horror settling over her features, "I'm sorry.." hands covering her face, she ran tearfully from the room.

"It's okay, Princess-" Mercury had started to say, lifting up the book and smoothing the pages, but Venus cut her off with a quick shake of her head.

"I don't think she was apologizing to you."

"Then whom?" Mars sighed, "Oh, for crying out..." Heaving a long-suffering sigh, the Senshi of Fire walked to the nearest guard, "I'll look in the communications room."

Still stung from the events that transpired, Jupiter followed Mars, the taller girl murmuring Jupiterain prayers of peace to her troubled princess.

Alone in the middle of the princess's bedroom, Mercury held the book in her arms. "What happened, Venus?" she said softly, Earthlight falling to illuminate the gold letters scribed into the leather binding.

"He doesn't believe in us." Venus answered just as softly, walking to her friend's side.

"Very few Earthbeings do, nowadays." Mercury said, "I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Venus sighed, walking toward the door, "Will you go and tell Mars that I will find and talk to Serenity?"

Nodding, Mercury left the room, hurrying after her fellow senshi.

'It bothers me, too' the blonde thought, frowning up at the Earth as it hung in the sky, 'that they don't believe. And it must have just about killed Serenity.'

* * *

><p>Hands clasped together and head bowed, the small figure did not want to be recognized. Glad in a dark blue cloak, the least ornate she owned, Serenity lifted tearful eyes to the figure of the man whose she uttered such blasphemy against just a few short minutes ago. It was late, and the few people left in the communications room were sleepily watching the few small screens still on, whispering among themselves as the palace slept on.<p>

It was there Venus found Serenity, sobbing into her hands.

"Are you through apologizing, little one?" she asked kindly, putting her hand on the smaller girl's covered head.

Sniffling the princess shook her head, "What would it matter if I did?

He wouldn't hear me. Or even think for a moment he might have. He doesn't believe in us." 'All those times I thought he might be looking back at me, all those times I was so sure he almost heard my vows of love to him... it was nothing... lies.'

"Can you blame him, Serenity?"

Although it was late, the prince of Earth was awake, leaning his arms on the ledge to the veranda near the gardens. The wind toyed with his dark hair, his eyes stared meditatively at the moon.

Serenity let herself become enraptured with him, as always, and let Venus's smooth, comforting voice calm her.

"It is very hard to give blind faith to something as intangible as we will always be to the Earthbeings. He is good man, Serenity, and tries his best. However, he has had a difficult life and it will only get harder. We can guide and aid him from afar but that's where it has to stop. Endymion has to do what he thinks is right, and that might involve not getting caught up in fantasies like the Angel legends, legends of us, into his life."

During this speech, Serenity had let the clock slide from her head and face, lifting her trembling chin up to her truest friend and councilor. "Will Endymion ever believe in m-in us?"

Gently, but with deep conviction, Venus turned her friend to face her.

Lowering herself to look the younger girl in the eyes, she said firmly, "You should not care, Serenity. You are Princess of the Moon Kingdom, he is an Earthbeing. Of course we love and care for all Earth creatures, but this obsession of yours is unhealthy. He doesn't believe in us, and this is how it should be."

When Serenity opened her mouth to protest, Venus hurried along in her speech. "The Earth breed is a proud lot, and they like to think they made it this far on their own. The nobles and royalty especially need to assume that confidence in themselves. Can you imagine what their reaction would be to learning they were being watched, and guided from above? Of course they'd deny it and Endymion-sama is no different."

At Serenity's silence Venus nodded, her point had obviously been made quite clearly. "He is a human. You are an angel, Serenity, but that's all you will ever be to him. Intangible."

Long after Venus left her, long after the shifts changed in the communications room, long after the rest of the city had turned quiet and still, Serenity lifted lovely gray-blue eyes to the empty screen. The prince was asleep now, there was nothing to watch. 'Dream, Endymion, if followers of reason do dream.'

"Intangible..." she whispered. It never occurred to her that she might never one day see her love face to face. No wonder the others teased her, no wonder he didn't believe. They could never exist to each other. "You're wrong. You are all wrong. I'll prove it to you, everyone, Endymion. Angels exist. We are right before your eyes."

Far down, between miles of matter-less space and layers of clouds, and air and brick and stone, Endymion slept, and he did dream, of an angel.

And an angel decided that for once, dreams would not be enough.

End part one

*- The communications room was were they watched the earth on all their

computers and technology that looked suspiciously like what was available in 1992 ^_- I'm not sure if it was called the 'Main Communications' room in the manga, I got that idea from Jes's Always Watching You and it stuck.

**- In the manga, the guardians were four when Serenity was an infant.


	2. Chapter 2: Wings

On a Wing and Prayer

Part two: Wings

"What do they say angels look like?"

Lazily, Venus lifted her head of her hands, shifting light blue eyes over to where her charge, her best friend, and her princess was last seen.

The Earth had not yet risen, it was not truly nighttime. Although the stars and Earth were nearing vision above the glass dome, the kingdom was now glowing with the beautiful inner light that illuminated it during 'daytime' hours. Echoing off the white marble walls and walkways, the light was pulsing, unearthly and mundanely familiar to all those who lived and breathed under the dome in the sky.

Golden hair pooled around her sailor fuku skirt as the lady Venus lay on the princess's large bed, a book open under her spread fingers. "What?"

"I said," Serenity's voice traveled through the slightly open doors that led into her dressing room, "what do angels look like?"

In that moment, for some reason, her friend sounded so heartbreakingly young and innocent, Venus had to remind herself that Princess Serenity was nearing her seventeenth year and was far to old for childish games. "Why?"

Shrugging, the girl entered the room again, holding two silky white dresses in her hands. "I was just wondering what the earth people say angels are like in their legends."

Serenity's hair was falling out of the royal style, the small knots of hair on either side of her head where loosening, and pixie waves danced and curled around her ears. Luminous eyes looked at Venus pleadingly, as the tiny, magical girl stood before her like some sort of vision.

"I think Angels look like you, Serenity," Venus murmured, tears jumping to her eyes, unbidden. 'Little Serenity-chan, when did you get so beautiful?'

Oblivious to Venus's sudden sentiment, Serenity smiled slowly. "Like me?" she murmured. She lifted her eyes to Earth for a moment, and out of habit her heart jumped a little in her chest.

"But what *else* though?" she asked, her voice demanding in that breathy, pure way a child begs an adult to jump into leaves with them.

"Well," searching her mind, Venus closed the book and sat up on the bed, "they always wear white. And have wings."

Nodding, the princess turned, attempting to straighten the horrible mess she had made before her chambermaid could sigh and roll her eyes again.

However, she had only one frothy white dress in her slender hand when the delicately guilded door to the princess's was pushed open.

Mercury rushed in with mock-stateliness, and pushing back her soft, flawless hair, the senshi smiled a little. "Mars wished me to inform you that Endymion is sparring with one of his generals! Their moves and training are amazing, come and see."

Shifting the sword in his hand a few times, Endymion watched his opponent carefully. He knew he was good, but it wouldn't do to get overconfident. He didn't let his guard down for an instant.

The man across the way narrowed his ice blue eyes at the young prince.

Kunzite knew the Endymion had been training hard lately, between study and sleep it was nearly all the man did. He couldn't help but approve, the silver-haired man noticed Endymion had improved greatly on stance and skill and he was already wonderful, a natural. Yet, something about the prince's reasons made him uneasy. It was almost as if the Earth Prince's spiritualistic powers sensed something worth preparing for. Endymion himself could not explain his sudden anxiety or need to be a better fighter, he just demanded practices and sparring challenges, every day.

This was the first time Kunzite had challenged the prince himself, yet the general couldn't help feeling this time the younger man was ready. He lunged, and saw he was right. Every move he made, Endymion defending flawlessly, the prince's reflexes were cat-like and lightening fast. Still, Kunzite was more experienced, and his offensive tactics backed Endymion up a few steps. Sweat beaded on both men's foreheads.

"What skill," Venus murmured, arching an eyebrow in approval to the handsome general being watched by the many spectators filling the communications with their talk and cheers.

"You could win in a sword fight against him, though, Venus," Mars said, crossing her arms and frowning appraisingly at the screen.

Mercury was twirling a silver pen in her hands, debating whether or not this was worth taking comprehensive notes for her study on Earth behavior.

Jupiter was cheering loudly with the more enthusiastic lunars, her hazel eyes alight as she mentally recorded the stamina and motions of the two fighters.

Serenity was quietly captivated, standing off to the side in the front.

The Princess of the Moon Kingdom and future ruler of the Silver Alliance stood with her hands clasped and her eyes glowing as she watched Endymion dodge another potentially fatal blow. He began to fight back, defensive stances changed to offensive and with renewed energy Endymion began forcing Kunzite back a few steps, and a few steps more.

"Wonderful!" Jupiter cried out, "The deception, he was hiding his true skill until the opponent tired!"

Kunzite's eyes narrowed as the seasoned winner was backed a few steps back, and further back, each time forced closer to the white line that symbolized Endymion's victory.

Ice-blue slowly faded to black. For a moment Kunzite froze all movement.

Then, with renewed, strange vigor, he leaped forward toward his prince and friend, the sword outstretched.

"Is he going to kill him?" Venus cried, and the room erupted with reaction to Kunzite's strange behavior.

Startled at the illegal lunge aimed at him, Endymion took a surprised step back, blue eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled. The force of Kunzite's jump arched the sword down... straight toward Endymion's heart.

And several things happened at once.

Serenity screamed at the top of her lungs.

Kunzite's eyes reverted back to ice-blue, a horrified expression reflected in them.

And a flash of white light appeared at the end of the sword, and suddenly it was harmlessly embedded into the wooden floor, to the left of the prince's shoulder.

"Your majesty!" Kunzite cried, in concern, lifting Endymion's head slightly off the ground as the latter slowly opened his eyes.

Giving his friend a sardonic smile, the prince slowly stood, lifting his right hand to run through his short black hair. His left shoulder was nicked by the sword, and deep red was seeping through the fabric of his tunic.

Groaning a little, he fell gratefully on Kunzite's outstretched arm. "That was a close one, my friend." Endymion was thankful his voice did not give away how shaken he was.

"It is true, my liege, you must have a guardian angel up there somewhere, looking out for you."

Endymion raised his head and let out a short cry of frustration, "What is it with the world and 'angels' so suddenly? First Lady Beryl-"

And, as they say, speak of the devil. The tall lady rushed in, a black and green dress clung beautifully to her lush body, her auburn hair was tied back in mounds of healthly, shimmering curls.

"Oh Prince Endymion! Whatever happened?" she cried, concerned, pressing a clean, scented handkerchief to his wound.

"Yes, Kunzite, what did happen?" Mars asked, the little frown not leaving her face. "That darkness I felt..."

Venus looked at the concern on marring her friend's beautiful face and felt a twinge of real fear. Shifting Serenity, who leaned heavily on Venus's shoulder, the senshi followed Mars' gaze to the screen. The half-lidded pale Princess watched her love through a haze of abundant eyelashes, her angelic eyes soft and, for some reason, very tired.

"Lady Beryl, I'm not... sure exactly what happened," Kunzite was muttering truthfully, "I think I may have tripped." He shook his head, confused.

"Thank god you are alright, Endymion-sama," Beryl pressed her body closer to his, pulling his shirt open to reapply her handkerchief to his wound.

Touching her lips lightly to the fabric, she frowned and gently ran her fingers through his soft hair, running them back from his face.

Frowning, he backed away a little, "I'm not hurt too badly Beryl," when

he saw her face he stopped for a moment, "but thank you for your concern." The redhead was offered a genuine smile and Kunzite left with the prince to find some medical attention.

Venus held her princess a little tighter when Beryl displayed such lack of shame in front of Endymion. Jupiter actually whispered some uncomplimentary terms under her breath, but Serenity wasn't paying much attention.

Her gaze was locked on the deep blue planet Earth, her pearl teeth nibbled at her lower lip as she stared, deep in thought.

"V-chan? Do you know where I could find wings?"

* * *

><p>'You must have your own guardian angel.' Kunzite's words echoed like a mantra inside Endymion's head as he walked into his bedroom, alone and bandaged well from his minor wound.<p>

Confused, the young man put a hand to his head. He knew Kunzite didn't trip. He also knew he should be dead right now, for all intents and purposes, the sword was aimed at his heart.

Leaning against his window frame, he left his eyes drift, as they always seemed to, up to the moon. Radiant and beautiful in the sky, it supplied some peaceful light into his eyes. So many questions danced through his head, in a chaotic waltz he knew would do on well into the night.

"Thank you," he whispered, although he did not know why, as he stared directly at the moon.

Serenity held soft, glossmer wings to her chest, one of her white shimmering dresses floated lightly in her hands, and her water-shadow eyes met Endymion's stormy gaze through the monitor. The moon air brushed against her arms and she shivered.

"You're welcome, my love."

* * *

><p>Cautiously, two figures approached the pearl white doors of the Princess's chambers. The girl with hair as dark as midnight let her knuckles tap lightly on one of the slightly open doors, and it swung inward a little.<p>

"Princess?" the golden-haired senshi called into the room, looking at her companion questioningly.

Giving her slim shoulders a graceful shrug, Mars entered the room. Since cloud-cover prevented the Communications Room from seeing Endymion's kingdom clearly, they assumed the Princess would be where she always was when mourning the lack contact with the Earth prince.

However, Serenity's room was empty, and the soft curtains leading to her balcony were pulled back to reveal the marble terrace devoid of life, only the bright stars and blue Earth hanging in the sky.

"Where is she?" Venus murmured, eyes darting around as if she expected her friend to run up from behind.

Chuckling a little, Mars just shook her head, "She isn't staring at the Earth like a lovesick fool, so I assume our attempts to cheer her up would be worthless." Putting a hand on Venus's shoulder, Mars smiled at her friend, "She's probably just running amok somewhere, annoying servants to no end, as usual."

Nodding, they turned to leave, both not telling the other of the dark, uneasy feelings filling their chests.

* * *

><p>On Earth, the air was warm, heavy and damp with the promise of rain. Heat lightening flashed in the far distance, and the sky was black with heavy clouds. A white-gold smudge in the corner of sky indicated the presence of a beautiful full moon, hidden by the thick atmosphere and hazy skies. The clouds were thick, but broken in places that revealed sparkling stars in the inky black.<p>

On the moon, an angel stood, arms outstretched and heart pounding.

Watching, until a she saw or felt or created a break in those thick clouds on Earth, a break right under the full moon's light.

"There is no turning back now," she whispered to herself, to the night, to the Earth, "It's time to fly."

And the she surrendered to the beam of light and allowed it to whisk her to the blue planet she loved so much.

Heavy. She was so...heavy... dizzily, Serenity opened her eyes, struggling to breathe. The air seemed gelatinous, clogging her lungs and crushing her delicate frame to the ground. Her fingers spread out in the soft grass she had landed in, and she pushed up on her hands to stand slowly.

It was dark, the Earth did not emit a soft glow like the Moon. Instead, it seemed to hum, teem with life like Serenity had never known. She liked it, a little.

Craning her neck back, the winged, white-clad girl looked to check for the comforting sight of the moon, but it was hidden by clouds, only a spot of light could be seen. Even though she knew it would be that way, planned it that way so she wouldn't get caught by the Communications Staff, it sent a shiver down her spine.

Alone. Her heart was pounding and her hands were slightly damp. But it was thrilling in its own way.

'I am actually standing on Earth. On his planet.' And if she planned it right, she was also in that beautiful place she was so longed to be since she first saw it: the royal gardens.

She was nearly used to her new weight, the new, wet air entering her body with each breath. 'This isn't so hard...'

A nearby sound made her jump.

"You shouldn't be out here," a familiar voice resounded in her ears, "it is going to rain soon."

Rain?

He stepped little closer, and feeling lightheaded, shaking, she slowly

turned her head toward him.

Endymion was squinting a little in the darkness, not sure who exactly he was talking to. He surmised it must be a courtier or some kind, as they were the only ones allowed in the gardens. Her dress was plainly visible even with the lack of good light, and she had long, light-colored hair, but that was all he could distinguish just now. Was she frightened? She seemed a little unsure, and some quality about this girl made him believe she was unearthly. Strange.

Serenity watched the man before her, his hand above his head a little, his dark hair was unkept, falling slightly into his eyes. She knew his face as if it were her own, and she loved it more than anyone could imagine, but never had she seen him so real and so close.

He held out his hand, carefully, to the unsure girl, "Are you alright?"

Swallowing, Serenity could just stare at his outstretched hand, her eyes quivering. Even with all her daydreams and planning, the reality of the moment caught up with her as she watched his graceful fingers unfold to reach out to her, his hand open and waiting for hers.

Surreal.

Light, soft somethings were falling on her face, and Serenity tore her eyes away from her prince, to glance upwards. Blinking away raindrops furiously, she shivered in the unfamiliar feeling of water falling miles and miles just to splash warmly on her face.

Rain.

Thunder.

A horrible, sudden sound broke the peace and Serenity gasped, her heart pounding. The noise came again, surrounding her and shaking the sky. Echoes and aftershocks rumbled through the sky and she turned wild eyes to Endymion in fright.

The young man seemed confused by the girl's sudden fear. "Don't worry," he found himself murmuring, taking a step closer. For some reason the desire to protect this girl came from nowhere and created a home in his heart. It never did leave.

But the princess was panicking, and quickly concentrated her power even as another thundering rolled around the clouds. Seeing, or willing, or creating another break in the clouds, the moonlight rushed to surround the woman like a long lost sister.

She glowed with light, and for the first time, Endymion saw her clearly.

He fell to his knees.

Soft white light seemed to caress her pale skin, and gray eyes reflected the colors of the rain and the moonlight in their depths, while thick lashes fluttered in the light sprinkle. Her hair was silver, shimmering around her shoulders in twin rivers. Wings adorned her back and a satin white wrapped around her body. The rain around her lit up with sparkles, and with the confidence she felt, embraced in the light of her home, the thunder faded to the background.

Endymion watched her, enraptured as she smiled at him, her eyes glowing with tears, love, and a tenderness he had never seen in another human being's eyes before. Not for him. Never before.

"I don't believe it," he whispered, his lips parted and his eyes wide, "it's an angel."

Was that sound her giggling slightly? Or was he imaging this whole thing? A roaring filled his ears.

Leaning before him, with a strange feeling of detachment and a wonderful emotion of joy spilling in her veins, Serenity let herself press her fingers gently to either side of Endymion's face. Leaning down before him, she looked into his slightly glazed eyes and allowed herself one last luxury before returning home and to watching and longing from thousands of miles away.

She pressed her lips to his.

For just a few seconds they froze like that, the reasonable, logic-

following future ruler of Earth sitting in the rain, and the ethereal angel leaning down to him, illuminating the raindrops that surrounded her, and tasting them on Endymion's lips.

Then the moonlight took her, and she surrendered to it, taking her home.

The moonlight disappeared and all at once it began to pour, violent water cascading down like bullets and buckets. The ground grew soggy and thunder and lightening raged war in the sky. Endymion let the rain pour down on him, his hair sending rivulets down his face and his clothes saturated through, yet he didn't move, his gaze never leaving the night sky.

To be continued in part three.


	3. Chapter 3: Dream

This took a while to edit. God, but I was fond of ellipses. For shame, Teenage Me. For shame.

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**Part Three: Dream**

Endymion slept better the few nights than he ever had before in his life.

It was strange, he reflected one morning, half-lidded eyes blearily greeting the early sunlight streaming through the decorative glass squares in the wooden window frames. The incident with someone, who, a week ago, he would have insisted was not real, did not leave him all that uneasy. Instead, for the first time in a long time, he felt a strange sort of peace settle deep in his chest where only anxiety had dwelt before.

Shutting his eyes against the peculiar well of deep longing that would appear along with any thought of the elusive angel, the prince pondered instead on the unusual events that had plagued his kingdom lately.

In addition the 'accident' with the sword, his generals had been acting quite unlike themselves at times. These bursts of hidden darkness in his friends' personalities came at unpredictable times, and always disappeared within a short enough span of time that no one else but Endymion could get suspicious. When the abnormal bouts of temper and conflicted behavior were over, the general in question would always apologize, looking confused, and if possible, even a little frightened. It was unnerving.

Also, reports were coming in from all corners of his domain, reporting bizarre and foreboding events. A farmer's crops apparently dripped human blood when harvested, several villagers claimed fervently that one part of the sky always stayed dark with a cloud that never moved, people were claiming hearing footsteps and screams when all alone. Still others swore good water had turned sour and salty as if with tears, and that children would fall off tall trees without a scrape, only to cry out and die in their sleep.

Less ominous but still concerning, were the reports of chance happenings: marbles falling out of a basket and rolling into geometric shapes without outside help, lightening repeatedly making the exact same pattern across a stormy sky, three or more identical children born at the same time to families across the village from each other... the list went on and on.

Endymion knew more than ninety percent of these claims never happened, and simple stories could grow and evolve into epics of impending destruction before word ever reached the throne. Yet, it was the remaining ten percent that had him worried, even with the warmth in his chest and tingling on his lips that had lingered since an angel had last stolen a kiss in the rain.

Endymion might have been convinced that he was being watched and protected from above, but apparently problems were still building up all around him. He couldn't help feeling he had no control over the outcome.

It was beginning.

And although he had been dreading It since he was a child, he never had any idea just what It was.

Only that it would be horrifying beyond belief.

* * *

><p>"Is she even breathing?" Wondered a voice that could have been called snide if it were any less rich and melodious.<p>

A soft giggle escaped even serious Mercury for a moment, before answering Mars' question for the benefit of all the senshi gathered around the princess's bed. "It would seem so, although the physical activity of in-take of oxygen and the pumping of blood seems about all our dear little Serenity is bothering herself with."

"So, in laymen's terms, she's been staring at the ceiling like that for the past *two days*," Jupiter stressed the last two words with exasperation, "and we have no idea why?"

"You know," the Princess's voice was heavy with lethargy but it still held a hint of irritation at her friend's gentle teasing, "I can still hear."

"Jupiter's observations are not quite correct, anyway," Venus said from her perch on the edge of Serenity's bed, "she went downstairs a few times for meals, and I've noticed her taking some casual glances into the Communications Room on more than one occasion."

The mild snickering was nearly drowned out by Serenity's groan, as the graceful heir to the kingdom covered her head with her arms and receded to whine in rather unladylike, but very typical fashion. "Everyone, please leave me alone! I'm not in a good mood."

Cool fingers pushed damp hair back from Serenity's feverish forehead, "Really," Venus said dryly, "We hadn't noticed."

"Perhaps if you could just tell us what's wrong," Jupiter uncrossed her arms and walked over to the bed near Venus, "we would stop incessantly bugging you about it."

A small half-smile curled Serenity's lips at Jupiter's jest but disappeared as infinite sadness again settled over her features.

Venus just shook her head slightly, not willing to let the foreboding in her chest match up with the visions of the Princess's strange behavior and Endymion's peculiar mood changes lately. But it was almost as if reason finally broke through, and two and two come together to make a number the senshi leader did not like one bit.

"Serenity, does this have something to do with Endymion?" she asked, feeling the girl stiffen.

"Leave me alone," she pleaded, her voice straining as if with unshed tears.

"Sereni-" her friends started, but she cut them off, more force in her voice this time.

"By Royal Command! Leave me be!"

The hollow echo of her voice floated back to the girls in their shocked silence.

Never, ever had the Princess held her position above them in any way, never had she separated herself from her senshi in such a blatant display.

Serenity shut her eyes against her misery, wishing she could take the words back but knowing that, like many of the things she had done lately, it could not be erased from the past. Afraid to open her eyes to her friend's hurt and angry stares, Serenity tried to force herself to try to sleep as the sounds of footsteps retreating in an uncomfortable mass assaulted her ears.

"As you wish, your majesty." Venus whispered quietly, as brought the two ornate doors together to latch quickly behind her. The formal address made Serenity cringe with guilt.

Covering her face with her hands, Serenity whimpered into the comforting feel of her pillows beneath her face, and the moon air murmuring slowly from the balcony.

It hurt. Her longing, her desperation. Never had she thought such an innocent thing as a quick kiss could open the flood gates inside her heart. Far from helping her forget him, or cope with the distance, the closeness she had captured and coveted like a jewel since that night only burned in her chest and pounded her head. Watching him through the monitors ceased to be enough for her anymore, not after she had watched the rain catch in his eyelashes, not after she had felt his silky hair beneath her finger tips. After watching his blue eyes, which always had seemed so sad, darken and widen in awe, in longing for *her* - it was amazing.

Each cold, empty mile between them made Serenity's heart ache and freeze with fear that she might never see him again. What she did that one time was forbidden, it was wrong. So, so wrong... so why did it feel so right?

And how long before she lost her will to stay away?

Slitting open watery gray eyes, she sat up slowly, dizzily and walked carefully out on the balcony. The Earth floated like a jewel among diamond stars, black of space lightened around the orb, white-gold clouds drifted along its surface.

"Mother," she whispered, eyes darkening with shame, "everyone," hands twisting together and clasping in front of her, shaking and cold, "my kingdom... Endymion," She lowered her head, sparkling strands of hair drifting out from the royal style in the light breeze, the earth sending soft blue light to dance across her dress in shadow. "Forgive me. I am unworthy, I am weak."

'I have fallen in love.'

* * *

><p>Endymion held the paper so tightly in crumbled in his hand, his eyes were dark with some mix that could have been fear or fury. Anyone who knew him well would avoid the prince when he was in such a state of intense concentration and agitation. Even his friends tended to step on the proverbial eggshells when the Prince of Earth read through the weekly scribed reports of happenings throughout his kingdom. Everyone knew that the events were growing in number, growing in the amount of terror spread through the people. With his uncanny connection to the Earth, Endymion felt that most of the horrors were still not true, yet why where the rumors growing so?<p>

General Zoicite had come upon and interesting theory hidden deep in the royal library, something about the enemy placing 'planters' deep within a society it plans to attack. The planters weren't spies, per se, but they weakened the infrastructure of the government in the countries they were hired to break, by spreading fear and doubt throughout the very basis of the kingdom itself: the common people. Fueled by anxiety, they would demand more of their Crown, while the royals could not stop things that never actually took place: the rumors the 'planters' would spread. Distrust would run rampant and when the enemy finally did attack, most had already turned to its side.

Endymion went decidedly pale when Zoicite, trembling a little himself, made this information known to the prince. However, Jedite calmly stated that the Prince in fact had no enemy kingdom, as most of the Earth was already under his domain, ruled by faithful vassals such as the Generals themselves. Kunzite was staring out at the moon, the cold white light seeming unearthly and frightening when reflected in his ice-colored eyes. The words he had uttered in response to Jedite's flippant observation still echoed in Endymion's ears as the Prince held the report in his hands.

'The most formidable enemy is always the one unseen.'

The irrational feeling again built up in Endymion's chest as he looked back on Kunzite's words and face that night. It wasn't fear, more like dread. It was coming. But when and who?

"Prince Endymion?" Beryl's voice seemed almost timid, unlike her. Without the usual seductive lilt she put on around him, he hardly recognized it was her.

Turning, he prepared himself to dismiss her, until he saw the look in her beautiful green eyes.

"Prince Endymion... I am sorry... to disturb you. I know you are in one of your moods," she blanched when she realized what she said, and put one pale hand into her disheveled red curls.

Mouth opening a little, the dark-haired prince blinked in surprise. A Beryl whose words were not as carefully scripted as a play, meant to tease and flirt? Something was seriously wrong.

"Beryl," he began softly, sympathy drowning out his usual annoyance at the girl in front of him, "what is wrong?"

Before she could stop herself, the girl stepped closer, closing the fabric of his shirt in tight fists. Looking into the deep blue eyes she had grown to adore so, so much. How could she tell him? Tell him of the nightmares, the whispers in the darkness, and the terrible joy tugging at her chest when evil dared laugh its way into her very dreams?

"I'm," she shut her eyes against tears, even in the arms of the man she desired so much, she didn't feel safe, "I'm so very scared."

Her voice cracked. She didn't think she'd ever feel safe again.

If possible, Endymion's eyes opened even wider, surprise etched on to his face. It was not the first time Beryl had somehow conned herself into his arms, at least until he could push her away, but it was first time she had been so sincerely concerned.

"Lady Beryl, believe me," he started, "I will do all in my power to protect you and my people."

"No, you don't understa-," she started to say, but he was already tenderly, gently removing her arms from around him.

Endymion's blue eyes turned a rare, warm color for a moment as he regarded the horror-stricken woman before him. "I promise, Beryl," he said, "for you, and every one of my subjects. I will do the right thing." He kissed her cheek, the first time he had ever voluntarily touched her in any way.

Gasping, Beryl watched his retreating back, her hand flitting lightly on the tingling place his lips had touched. For once, the evil tugging at her by all sides was ebbed by something else, something she hadn't felt in a long time: Hope.

'The right thing,' Endymion thought as he walked down the grandiose hallway of the palace, 'I hope I know what that is when the time comes.'

* * *

><p>The communications room was not exactly what one could call a hub of activity in the wee hours of the morning. The monitors' constant humming always seemed much louder in the nearly empty room, the few sleepy-eyed attendants nursed cups of sweet tea, and tried to pry their eyes open, to watch the few views Endymion's kingdom they had at night. Empty and silent, the Earth slept.<p>

A silvery sound of bells drifted quietly into the hall, alerting to the change of shift. As the staff awoke out of their stupor, going to wake up the people meant to take over for them, a cloaked figure slipped in unnoticed.

It was not the first time Princess Serenity had spent her nighttime hours in the communications room, pleading information off the attendants, running elegant fingers over the crystal buttons, adjusting the screens to explore the magic of the royal gardens by moonlight. Yet it was rare to find her here at such a late hour, disguised under a lovely blue mantle, almost as if she was hiding wings underneath it.

A half-lidded attendant sat before a monitor nearest to the princess, and she silently padded along to stand directly behind him. Smiling benevolently at him, she lightly placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. A light sprinkling of snow-like lights sparkled the air for just a moment, and the man shut his eyes and let his head fall onto his arm.

Rationalizing that the poor man probably needed a healing sleep, Serenity couldn't help a feeling of victory over-take her. "I knew that power would come in handy," she allowed herself to breathe, as pale fingers stretched over the control pad, searching out the correct buttons.

One, two, three. The monitors shifted slowly to moon-kissed tree tops, and shimmering lakes, far from the Earth Palace where her true love slept. And the angel prepared to leave.

The balcony was lovely, pillared and carved. In dark marble figures seemed to flicker in the moonlit shadows, almost as if they were seconds away from coming alive and dancing on the soft, damp grass under the blue light from the moon hung in the sky. A willowy figure in white darted suddenly from behind one pillar up to a ledge near a window. For a second, she seemed unreal, an apparition, a ghost… or an angel. Wings alighted her back, shimmering hair cascaded down her back, and one hand rested on her chest in panic.

Leaning against one pillar and shutting her eyes, Serenity commanded her palpating heart to slow, and took a few deep breaths of the unfamiliar, fragrant Earth air. The moon was breathtakingly beautiful, hung like an opal in the velvet sky, paling the stars and showering its comforting, heavenly light on to the gardens, the stairs, and the pillars.

Slowly panic and awe wore off, and Serenity shifted her eyes carefully, realizing where she stood. If her calculations were correct, then that meant that Endymion slept in the room through the heavy glass doors to her left.

Marveling at how much nerve sheer desperation could give a person, she pressed one soft hand on the cold glass, and let her other fingers fall lightly around the golden latch, wondering if the electric pulses Jupiter taught her how to manipulate could truly unlock the balcony door.

Gasping at her good luck, and the lack of true security measures (since most assumed no one would try to enter a balcony three stories from the marble walkway), Serenity turned the latch easily and collected herself for a moment before pushing open the heavy door.

Shadows and moonlight fell slightly and frozen across the dark room's floor, and only sounds the much too loud scraping of the door opening, and Endymion's breathing as he slept.

As was habit since he was child, the prince had moved to the edge of the bed so he could sleep in the beam of moonlight floating across his room. The white-blue light fell across his face, softening the hard lines usually visible across his features. His hair shimmered almost as silver as Serenity's in some places, as the light alighted peacefully over the strands, embracing him as if it loved him as much as Serenity did.

A small part of the Princess's mind scolded her for trembling, but most all of the radiant angel's thoughts were focused on the man before her. He seemed so vulnerable, she had a dizzy memory of watching a young boy fall asleep in the royal gardens when she was very little, held up to the monitor by Venus to get a glimpse of the prince all the adults had talked of so excitedly.

The beautiful little boy.

Unable to resist, she had to touch him, running soft fingers across his forehead. Suddenly, a warm hand grabbed hers in a vice-like grip and she felt him start awake violently.

Sitting up in panic, Endymion faced his intruder with catlike instincts, wary and ready to attack. Stifling a surprised scream at this unexpected turn of events Serenity stumbled back, and would have fallen if not for Endymion's grasp on her hand.

They stared at each for a few moments, dark blue eyes into light blue ones, light dancing between them in a haunting waltz heard by no one.

It was Endymion's amazed whisper that broke the silence, "It's you." She smiled tenderly, and he thought he might live a hundred years and never again see anything so heartbreakingly beautiful. "I've dreamed of you."

"And I you," she confided, the first time he heard her speak, her voice seemed to wrap around him, and through him, a shimmering silver blanket.

He did not let go of her hand, instead shifting his fingers to weave through hers, the pleading in his dark eyes nearly broke Serenity's heart.

"Are you real?" he whispered, a little boy, frightened by his own feelings.

Nodding gently, the small smile never leaving her lips, she tightened her fingers around his. "My name is Serenity," she murmured, in the soft, sweet voice the strong-willed princess saved only for her loved ones.

Surprised he was still able to speak through the haziness of his mind, he answered, "I'm Endymion."

If it was possible, her eyes grew even lighter. "I know."

Silence descended again, only the sounds of breathing audible in the room, although both of them were sure the other could hear the pounding of their hearts.

"Are you an angel?" he finally asked, more composed, a business-like expression on his face... although his eyes were still slightly glazed.

I guess, in a manner of speaking, she thought. So, it wasn't lying when she responded with: "Yes. Do you believe now?"

Hesitantly, as if he expected her to flinch or run away, he sat up more, and brought his hand toward her face. She shut her eyes as he pressed his palm to her smooth face, spreading his fingers through soft hair. "Yes," with a sudden flash of boldness he ran his thumb over her lips, remembering them from the last rainstorm, shaking his soul moreso then the thunder. "I believe."

* * *

><p>Beryl woke up screaming. It was there, it was always there, but at night it seemed to gain power and pull at her soul with more force then she had to resist it. It offered her everything she ever wanted: money, power, to see others cowering before her. It offered her the object of her desires, the young prince of Earth, bowing before her and her slave in more than one way.<p>

It pulled at her mind, but this night she tried harder than ever to resist it.

For Endymion, she pushed the evil away from her mind. Rising slowly, Beryl shunned the thought of sleep, and wrapped herself in a sheer robe of dark red. Stumbling from her chambers in the west wing of the palace, she walked in a daze through marble walkways and lovely verandas.

The moon mocked her from the dark sky, as she traced the steps to the ground beneath Endymion's balcony.

* * *

><p>They had just met, but she had known him forever, it seemed. Hand in hand with her before the glass doors of the balcony, Serenity seemed less mystical to Endymion. Instead of an untouchable, unearthly being radiating beauty and light, she was a princess of the light, warm hand resting in his, her heart beating and lungs breathing as his did. She was Real. Like an angel, but really a Princess. And he felt in true danger of losing his heart to her, if he hadn't already.<p>

"So you really do... watch us constantly?" He asked, feeling a slight tightening in his chest. 'The unseen enemy,' something whispered, and suspicion filled him, even as Serenity held his hand tightly.

Turning blue eyes to him, she answered, "Well, how else are we supposed to protect you?"

Her voice drove the whispering darkness away, and at that instant, it lost all power to return to haunt Endymion. It was that moment, precious dusky blue eyes looking so trustingly into his, her sparkling warmth so close, heart pounding in time with his, that his heart filled so completely with her and only her, he wondered if he would explode.

"Serenity," his voice was timid, even as he encircled her waist with his arm, pulling her closer, lowering his head to brush against her face.

She looked up into his eyes, and he smiled a little. She was everything he had secretly hoped for, refused to surrender to, refused to believe in. But now... how could she have him acting this way? All Endymion could tell her was the truth. "Permit me, Princess, but after you stole a kiss in the rain, there are times when I pleaded on every star in the sky to be able to reclaim it."

At the mention of the last time she had seen him, her face flushed a dark rose-color beneath her translucent skin, but before she could retort, he finished his speech and lowered his lips to hers.

This wasn't right. It was against every law and every rule and every value the moon kingdom preached to Serenity from an early age. Why did she start this? What had she done? But she couldn't pull away. Not from this.

Not from him.

Endymion was lost in the waves of belong and desire, wrapping his arms tighter around her waist, wondering if he would wake any moment to face cold reality and find this was all a dream. It was nearly too much for Serenity, to believe that he returned the feelings she had kept hidden for so long.

Tears filled the princess's eyes behind her closed lids, they sparkled in the moonlight as they caught on her dark eyelashes. She couldn't ask for forgiveness, because she had no regrets to offer. For as long as she could remember she had loved this man from afar, and to be finally held in his arms, feel his lips respond to her touch.

"I love you," she admitted to him, as he pulled away slightly to look into her eyes, "it's wrong, but," her eyes were damp, quivering, but strong, "I've always loved you."

Almost unable to believe that such a perfect creature could claim to love to a flawed human as himself, Endymion couldn't answer her. The shocked look in his eyes disappeared, however, as he saw his reflection deep in her gray eyes. "Serenity," he pulled her close again, leaning his head on her shoulder, burying his face into waves of silver hair.

The moonlight encircled them, as if claiming allegiance to the side of true love as well.

AN

So maybe some stuff actually *happens* in the next part. I forget. Stay tuned.


	4. Chapter 4: To Believe

Last time on Gossip Gir- er, I mean, uh, Last time on This Fic:

"Serenity," he pulled her close again, leaning his head on her shoulder, burying his face into waves of silver hair, "You are the answer to my prayers."  
>The moonlight encircled them, as if claiming allegiance to the side of true love as well.<p>

**On a Wing and A Prayer**

**Part four: To Believe**

By Antigone

Originally written published in the year 2000 (before Facebook, if you can imagine.)

Shrouded in the darkness, a figure stood, obviously female, hunched slightly with quivering shoulders. Despite the warm night and gentle moonlight, the shadow surrounding the woman was dark and cold. A horrible chill would run down the back of anyone nearby, the potential evil and restrained terror too much for them to witness. Yet even with all the terror she would provoke, perhaps a passerby, if sensitive and gentle enough, would note with sympathy two single tears running down her porcelain cheeks as the reflection of two figures danced in her lovely emerald eyes.

But no one felt sympathy, for the night was nearly empty of human life. Behind the thick glass of Endymion's balcony, a tall dark figure embraced a child-like being, and neither of them heard the bloodcurdling scream that ripped from Beryl's throat as the evil finally sank into her bones.

Neither of them even thought to look down to see the unhidden hatred boil beneath the depths of her eyes as she narrowed them at the girl now sleepily rocked in Endymion's arms.

Suppressing another yawn, Serenity closed her eyes peacefully, leaning her head against Endymion's chest. Talking had dwindled, although there was still much to say, but for now she was more then content to stay folded in his arms.

He was so warm, and with his arms tightly around her, she could forget all her failings and all her fears, lulled by the rhythm of his heart.

Endymion's eyes shut blissfully, head falling to brush against Serenity's face, "You are tired," he murmured into her ear, barely saying the words so much as breathing them.

Shaking her head, she muttered a disagreement into his shoulder, yet even that small movement caused her exhaustion to take over. Knees buckling, she would have fallen to the floor had her companion not shifted his arms and steadied her again on her feet, her body heavily falling on his for support.

Brushing light wisps of hair back from her face, Endymion smiled tenderly at liquid gray eyes struggling to stay open to gaze back at him. "Do angels sleep, little one?"

"Yes," she murmured, burrowing again into his arms, spreading warm, slim fingers to curl around his collar.

"You should return home soon, Princess," he said. Despite his words, he could not help brushing his lips gently against her neck.  
>"They will miss you, although I fear I might miss you all the more," he Admitted.<p>

Smiling a little, she took a deep breath and stepped away from him, lifting ivory hands to rub at her eyes and gracefully cover another deep yawn.

Nearly drunk with sheer fatigue, she swayed a little on her feet, and would have fallen again if not for Endymion's hand on her tiny waist.

His face a mix of amusement and sympathy, the prince countered, "Perhaps you should leave soon, as I believe if touch you one more time I shall not be able to let you go home, to the rest you surely ne-."

Ignoring his words, she cut off his speech and thought process with a soft kiss. The last thing he heard before a sudden, velvety sleep descended over him was a sweet, albeit drowsy, voice whispering, "Good night, my love."

As Endymion shut his eyes and fell gently on top of his unmade bed, Serenity stood outside, opening her hands and arms to the moonlight, drifting asleep even as the moonlight carried her home.

* * *

><p>The book was very, no, too heavy. Serenity was certain the thick volume sitting on her lap was cutting all circulation to her legs, and she did not hesitate to inform Mercury of that fact.<p>

However, her only reply from her senshi and friend was a raised blue eyebrow, and slight smile. "Commendable try, dear one," Mercury patted Serenity's head infuriatingly, "but you must complete your reading, feeling in your legs or no."

Sighing piteously, Serenity leaned her head back onto the soft cushioned chair in the sunlit study.

Giggling, Mercury turned on mock sympathy, "Oh, truly, Serenity, the life of a princess is never easy, is it?"

Although meant as a teasing remark, Mercury's words struck a chord in the princess's chest, one she had been trying unsuccessfully to ignore lately.

Running a fingernail along a line of golden print and squinting her eyes as if pretending to read, Serenity let her mind wander far and away, along the sunlight.

She was in love. Okay, but she had always been in love with the prince of Earth, since the first time she saw him, watched him, the sunlight glinting off his eyes.

Shaking her head forcefully, Serenity scolded herself and returned to her original train of thought. The fact that he met her, believed in her, loved her in return, (in spite of herself, her heart leaped at that last thought, and her eyes filled up with happy tears for a least the seventh time in the past three days), those facts changed everything.

Before, her 'infatuation' as they called it with the heir to the Earth was considered a cute, if sometimes vexing, quirk. Now, however, it was full-blown Treason: prosecutable and punishable.

At this thought, Serenity started, biting her lip so hard a drop of blood fell to pat onto the parchment in her hands. Swallowing, she reached to wipe the drop away with the pad of her finger when she stopped, realizing a strange feeling had settled over her.

Even without the seductive, dizzying memories: his lips on hers, the gentle warmth of his body, and the pleasure of falling asleep in his arms, she couldn't shake the intuitive, instinctive feeling that this was somehow - right. No matter what.

Still, the crimson red of the blood as it soaked and leeched through the fibers of the paper made her shiver uncontrollably, even as she put a trembling finger to her aching lower lip.

* * *

><p>Tension on the Earth Palace was reaching fever pitch lately. Faces that walked the halls were always etched with worry and fear. Uneasy murmurs seemed to be the only sound that traveled these walkways now, every other sound was muffled or hidden. Noble's children who laughed too loud or shrieked in the halls were hushed harshly by their elders, and soon even the little ones turned solemn and grave.<p>

Endymion's only small solace were the memories of Serenity in his arms, eyes shut and trusting him completely. She had managed to return to him three times since her first visit to the planet. And, although it was only for a few hours at a time always in the dead of night those precious minutes spent talking, holding her, kissing her, were the only bright spots in his existence. Every night he shut his eyes, hoping this night he would wake to cool hands on his face, blue-grey eyes looking into his.

However, even those memories couldn't shield him from the obvious cracking of his government from under his feet. Nothing had happened yet, but everyone, from the highest ranking general to the least important servant, seemed to be holding their breath.

Waiting.

Waiting. It would drive him mad.

Endymion scowled in frustration and stalked outside to the garden.

Monitors and screens above and surrounding the Communications Room all flickered and focused on turbulent blue eyes, then slowly panned out to all different angles and focuses of the Earth Prince.

"He is handsome when he's brooding," Jupiter said dryly to Venus, only to receive a faux glare in return.

"Please, I get enough from the Princess."

Even as they smiled at each other, Jupiter's voice turned serious, "Are you worried?" The tall, lovely senshi asked of her leader.

Turning cornflower eyes back to the monitors, and the tortured expression on Endymion's face, Venus found her throat too dry to answer, although her lips formed the word, 'Yes.'

The lunars watched as two strange voices caught Endymion's ear, too low to hear what they were saying, but enough that they were familiar. Eyebrows knitting together for a moment, Endymion turned slowly and warily. With the movements of cat, even in the broad daylight, he stalked slowly to a nearby bush, and pushed it aside gently.

The light crackle of the leaves did not disturb Beryl and Kunzite who stood facing each other in a small clearing, one of many in the intricate gardens.

Amazed, Endymion watched as Kunzite listened intently to Beryl's words, his eyes as cold as the ice whose color they shared. Beryl seemed different, too, somehow, tight black material clung to her hips and chest, her hair was longer and darker then he remembered. Shaking his head, Endymion decided he must be seeing things. The silence was oppressive, something was bearing down on him, closing his throat and clouding his mind.

Slowly, as if through water, Beryl turned and pointed one long-nailed finger in Endymion's direction.

Venus watched with concern and confusion marring her features as Endymion stood up and walked to his friends.

'Stop being ridiculous,' he told himself fiercely, swallowing his fear, 'this is Kunzite and Beryl. You can't see enemies everywhere, Endymion, or you will become paranoid and useless.'

"Good afternoon," Kunzite greeted Endymion, his voice perfectly measured as usual, only his friendly smile missing from his face. Then again, not many people had smiled lately.

"Good afternoon, Kunzite, Lady Beryl," he said, or rather, tried to say.

The prince's eyes clouded a little, he slowly raised his hand to his forehead in confusion.

The low tone of concern echoed in the Communications Room, miles and miles above the occurring events.

A slow, terrible smile snaked over Beryl's blood red lips, and she walked slowly to Endymion, in her eyes a dreadful caricature of true sympathy. "Poor little Prince." She ran a bold hand over his shoulder and to his face, letting a tiny pout settle over her mouth as she regarded his wide eyes. "You let *them* get to you, didn't you?"

Jupiter put a shocked hand on Venus's shoulder at that comment, both pairs of eyes never leaving the horrible scene playing out before them.

Finding he couldn't speak, Endymion just let his mouth open a little, looking desperately to Kunzite for help. But his friend just stared at the two of them blankly, his gaze frozen.

Cupping her hand tightly, nearly painfully, on Endymion's face, Beryl brought her mouth to his as if to kiss him, ("Eeeewww," Jupiter groaned under her breath,) but at the last minute she pulled back and slapped him so hard across the face, that the young man stumbled backwards and nearly fell.

Spitting on the ground in front of him, Beryl hissed in a voice he never heard before. Sinisterly, almost as if a million poisonous snakes were screaming in acid, she spoke: "This is what I think of her. You are weak minded, Endymion."

Yet she stepped closer still, looking deeply into the prince's confused, bewildered eyes. Licking her lips, she sent her eyes across his form, her smile growing. "I like weak-minded." Tossing her head so every individual curl caught the sun, yet seemed to absorb it and darken even the brightest light, Beryl turned to walk away, swiveling her hips.

Shaking, Endymion watched her leave, stupefaction written all over his face. He was royalty, and even as a child, he never remembered being slapped before. As he blankly registered the sting, Endymion wondered blearily why Kunzite had not reacted at all.

Just then, blinking a little, and breaking from his apparent trance, Kunzite walked over the Endymion. Kunzite's eyes were still cold as they regarded his friend. "This enemy," the deep-voiced general stated, "it is indeed unseen. Beryl seems to know more than she lets on. I think she can help us defeat the evil."

Patting Endymion's shoulder twice, Kunzite left without even looking at the prince's eyes.

Jupiter shook her head slowly, eyes narrowed in thought. "What was that?"

Slightly more purposeful, Venus clapped her hands twice, loudly over the hushed commotion in the room. "Alert the Queen," she commanded.

Feeling something warm on his face, Endymion lifted a shaking hand to his mouth and startled when his fingers came back smeared with crimson.

Beryl had split his lip.

Seeing the drop of blood pool into his fingerprint made Endymion shiver a little, and he pressed his other hand, trembling, to his small wound.

That night the moon was full, and shone directly into Endymion's room, sending comfort and beauty throughout the room. Standing in the beams, Endymion lifted his head to the light, allowing it to send its tranquility through to his very soul.

Opening his eyes just enough to meet the eyes of a small girl, miles away, watching quietly in a busy room, Endymion allowed a smile to settle onto his face.

"I love you," he whispered. Even with everything, all the chaos the devil himself could think up to throw at him, his heart would still beat for Serenity and only for her. And she was his only sanity.

Astounding gray-colored eyes glanced slowly to either side, before a soft pale hand reached out to caress the image on the little monitor in front of it.

"I love you, too, Endymion," she whispered. Tears filled her eyes even as she smiled, they slid down her face, winking in the moonlight.

Both slept soundly.

* * *

><p>Two soft hands spread over the ivory tabletop, tense as the atmosphere in the small, yet decedent, room. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom and Keeper of the Silver Crystal raised silver eyes from her hands to the two figures who knelt before her.<p>

"Is that everything that happened?" The Queen's voice was always perfectly measured, every letter pronounced with the exact dialect of the very noble. Yet there was a slight undertone of anxiety that made Venus's heart sink almost to the very depths of her soul.

"Yes, You Majesty," she answered, praying for the strength to keep the tears from her eyes and her voice, "we have given you every detail we remembered."

Jupiter nodded tensely, agreeing, her eyes still focused on the floor.

Fear kept them from talking directly to the wise woman before them. Not fear of her, they could never fear someone so kind and respected, but fear that once they looked their sovereign in the face both would break down in terrified tears.

"Yes, I trust your memory, Venus," she said, a worried hand tracing the insignia on her forehead, "yet I worry that something has been overlooked. Something you did not know to look for."

Although the distracted queen did not give the signal as she usually did, Venus took the initiative to rise from the floor, and both senshi stood by their Queen.

"'Something?'" Venus asked, eyes concerned.

Jupiter lifted her chin confidently. "If you tell us what to look for, we can have double the observation staff in a day, and a senshi for each shift."

Serenity gave both girls a grave smile, "I am afraid it is not that simple. I could not explain to even my most trusted advisor what I was looking for, because I do not readily *know*. The slightest sign of darkness..."

Green eyes darkening to a deep forest color, Jupiter replied, "Forgive me, highness, but I think there is much more than a *little* evidence of darkness on the Earth."

Solemnly, Venus nodded, "It is spreading at such an alarming rate."

The Queen gave a knowing little smile, "Ah, but such young warriors as you two would not realize the Earth goes through periods of extreme darkness, and then eras that could seem nearly Utopian. Yet, I worry that perhaps..." Just as quickly as it came, the smile then disappeared, leaving the nearly perfect face of Queen Serenity expressionless except for a slight gnawing at her lower lip.

For a split, heartwarming second, the Queen reminded Venus of her beloved Princess, the angel-child who slept unmolested beneath the stars as darkness ravaged her true love's planet.

"Your majesty," the leader of the senshi choked out, her quiet voice still loud in the nearly bare room, "what of Endymion?"

The silence stretched on for so long, the two girls began to wonder if their Queen would dignify an answer at all. At last she spoke, softly and with intent. "That boy is in grave danger. There have been situations with rulers like this before, yet it is one of the first times we will not - cannot! - help him."

"He doesn't believe..." Jupiter trailed off, eyes sad, fingernails nervously digging into her palm.

"Even if he did," Serenity shook her head slightly, "he would need much more help than our usual guidance can give from so far away."

For a moment no one spoke. Blue eyes shifted to meet Jupiter's, and with her expression, Venus tried to reveal her own concern for Princess Serenity, should anything happen to the raven-haired man who held her heart. Nodding slightly, Jupiter showed she understood.

"The darkness must be monitored," the Queen continued, almost to herself, putting a perfectly-formed hand to her pale forehead, "I want the Communications Room fully staffed at all hours of the night, a senshi at nearly every shift possible. Whenever I can, I will be there, too."

Nodding professionally, the senshi turned to leave.

"Senshi Venus," the Queen called out, suddenly.

"Yes?"

"How fares my daughter?"

The concern and love for the lighthearted Princess of the Moon mirrored between the usually stoic, poised monarch and her trusted leader. For a moment Venus felt her heart thump painfully in chest. "She fares well, Highness."

'Less well if she discovers Endymion is in danger,' Jupiter's expression seemed to say, for she dared not mention Serenity's forbidden feelings for the Prince where the Queen could hear them.

Queen Serenity nodded slightly, eyes turning back to stare at the bright, white orb floating on a pedestal in the middle of the room. The Silver Crystal.

Putting a hand to her chest for a moment, the woman murmured, "I will visit her later, perhaps. I have been busy, and I love her so much." The Queen's eyes darkened with foreboding, and she appeared lost in her thoughts.

Respectfully, the senshi bowed and left the room.

Spinning slowly, the small stone radiated power so strong it was almost terrifying. The light reflected in the gray-blue eyes of the Queen, and seemed to dance in her unshed tears. 'If the time of fate is upon is, there is truly nothing we can do.'

Once outside, Venus and Jupiter did not immediately begin talking. Instead, they walked in silence through intricate lace of white-marble hallways weaving through the moon palace.

"I will inform the other senshi of what is happening," Venus offered, "although if I know Mars and Mercury they will already know."

Allowing herself a small smile which she did not feel, Jupiter added, "They probably know more than we do."

Sharing a light look, the two avoided the thought still weighing heavily on their minds and hearts.

"Venus?" Jupiter asked after a while, the moon glow from the palace itself softening her dark hair to a light wooden shade.

Yes?

"Do you think she loves him? Truly?"

There was no question of to whom Jupiter was referring.

Looking up through a skylight at the Earth, Venus' eyes grew heavy and sad. "Yes," she said softly, with deep grieving, "I have always thought so. I just now realized it."

Swallowing, Jupiter leaned against the wall, nearly in tears as she imagined the heartbreak Serenity must be going through, and the pain it would cause if she knew of the evil so close to the Prince. "What are we going to do?"

Venus' gaze grew hard, and she turned with the poise and command of an army general addressing her troops. "We do nothing," she answered, "I cannot even think of what the princess might feel, or do, if she had any inkling of this danger."

Jupiter nodded, and seeing the looking her face, Venus softened her voice a little, "It's not that I want to keep secrets from her, but she is so young and it hurts her enough that she cannot be near him as it is. The Earth is being more heavily watched, but that is to be expected before any impending event, even a mild one. We do not want to cause panic in the people, or our Princess. A government protects its people... the people protect their leaders, unfortunately, *both* those duties fall upon us." Putting a kind hand on Jupiter's shoulder, Venus comforted her friend.

The two Senshi walked down the hallway, leaving the Earth to send its pure blue light through the skylight to dance on the white marble floor like fire.


	5. Chapter 5: Interlude

AN

I've been forgetting disclaimers. I don't own Sailor Moon. I know you're shocked.

**On a Wing and a Prayer **

**Part 5: Interlude**

Morning was relentlessly tugging on Serenity's consciousness and pulling her out of the sweet escape of dreams. She resisted with all of her might, struggling against the sad, sinking feeling that filled her chest during her waking hours.

Reality, however, was relentless, and slowly eating away at the crystallized memories and dreamy love-sick feelings. Sighing awake, the princess opened eyes as flat and gray as the sea in winter, and tried with all the strength of years of royal lineage to pull her sickly feeling body out of bed.

Pulling a fine linen dress from the huge closet, quietly as to not awake her handmaids, Serenity couldn't help feeling self concern flow through her as she noted how terribly pale the thin hand pulling at the fabric was as she dressed herself. The strings pulled tight about her thin waist and for a moment the girl realized she may have stumbled on one of the reasons the others had been treating her so differently lately, as if she was something of delicate glass, that even their words could break if spoken too harshly.

That, and the constant activity and surveillance that overflowed in the communications room allowed no cracks for her to slip through anymore, to freedom to visit her beloved one more time.

She managed only glimpses of his face, snatches of his smooth voice over the monitors, until Venus or another senshi quietly pressed her away from the room with soft chiding.

It had been too long since Serenity could remember being at peace, her mind was muddled and confused, filling with something strange she couldn't place. It was foreign, sitting at the edge of her mind and not touching her purity or light, and the princess sighed over it as she pressed cool hands to the glass windows.

Drowsily, she remembered the senshi forcing her to eat, to sleep, to rest, to do anything but study or visit the communications room. The latter two things used to make up most of her waking time, and Serenity felt as if her life had taken a dizzying spin upside down, colors and light twisting around her while she stood all alone, miles and miles away from the one person whose hand she wanted to hold while she screamed.

Shaking her head of such unsettling thoughts, the beautiful, albeit pale, girl twisted glittering silver strands of hair into the two familiar twists, while pale eyes considered their reflection in a gold carved mirror.

* * *

><p>"I need sleep," a voice rang with conviction through the communications room, receiving murmurs of agreement among the staff working there.<p>

Her follow senshi gave Mars a bouquet of dry looks, Jupiter even going so far as to roll deep green eyes to the ceiling for a moment, raising one perfect brunette eyebrow at her comrade.

"Well by all means, your highness, go and rest whilst we, who although having been awake as long as you have, will massage your feet." The biting reply from Mercury received shocked stares from all the senshi, even as the usually soft-spoken warrior apologized with a pink-flushed face.

"Sleep depravation will do strange things to everyone," Venus said with a soft half-smile, "and I think perhaps it be best only one of us kept vigil tomorrow night."

"Bu-"

By raising her slim hand in one graceful movement, the leader of the Princess's Guard not only stopped any senshi argument, but also most of the conversation of the others working in the communications room.

"May I explain my reasoning? The Queen's orders only stated that one of us be present at all times. We have been trying to offer more aid and protection by having three or more of us watching at a time, but that really is not as necessary has we have thought, and actually very wasteful of our own health and energy. Besides, the Queen herself might enough to warrant three of us, at least, getting a good night's rest."

* * *

><p>The night air was just beginning to turn cooler as it snaked around the palace, and through the open windows to Serenity's room, brushing the princess's flushed cheeks from where she sat at her ebony desk.<p>

A white piece of parchment sat in front of her, blank but for two thick, silver lines, metallic ink drying slowly in the thick paper. Twisting her heavy golden pen slowly between her fingers, the white-clad girl considered what she had drawn absent-mindedly as the Earth rose above the crystal dome of her kingdom's sky.

The lines twisted and danced along the paper, swirling into loops and curves over and into each other, in designs so dramatic and beautiful that it seemed impossible for their to be fewer then a dozen separate lines, instead of two interconnecting silver pen strokes, by themselves changing a small space of blank paper into pure beauty.

Shaking a little, the hand holding the pen let it drop with a muted thump on the thick carpet, and Serenity leaned her head down upon her desk like a little child and began to cry.

Mercury leaned lazily against the cool marble of the communications room, arms crossed and expression schooled to observant and in-control, although inside she felt just too tired and helpless to do anything.

The darkness had become just too threatening for any one to ignore it anymore, keeping the knowledge from Princess Serenity was harder than any senshi had suspected it to be. The Queen kept a cool, poised position on the happenings on Earth, although all the senshi knew she worried more than she would ever let on.

There was too much, Mercury reflected, happening at once throughout the kingdom, or even just the palace itself. The Princess, although the senshi saw she was well-rested and eating heartily, seemed to be listless and depressed, thin and pale. And there was something so strange about Endymion-

"Mercury!" cool fingers wrapped themselves tightening around Mercury's elbow and the senshi instantly jumped and stood on guard, turning franticly to look into startled gray-blue eyes.

"Princess!" she breathed, relieved, "You took about five years off my life."

Smiling a little, in a shallow suggestion of the childlike laughs that would have lighted her eyes just a short time ago, Serenity's eyes warmed at the sight of her friend.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Mercury," she said, suddenly serious, her hand not leaving the senshi's arm, "but I had to tell you I'm sorry."

Paling for a moment, Mercury stared into the tear-filled eyes of her princess and friend. "For what?"

Not answering, Serenity shook her head once, sharply, guilt-filled eyes turning away to leave Mercury staring only at gold-glinted silver hair and the side of Serenity's face. "I'm just... sorry."

It was that instant the room went black, and the cool fingers disappeared from around Mercury's arm amidst the shouts of panic that ensued from the unexpected loss of electricity to the Moon Palace's main communications room.

* * *

><p>"Please, Kunzite, tell me you are joking," Endymion said as he entered his chambers, one hand pressed to his forehead as his cold-eyed general followed him through the arched doorway.<p>

"Yes, my Prince," the taller man answered dryly, "because you know just what a kidder I am when it comes to matters like this."

Groaning a little, Endymion struggled to control the urge to pound his fist into the wall. 'Of all things, why now?'

"May I suggest you take her up on her offer, my liege?" Kunzite said for the second time during their very heated conversation.

The constant use of the honorific when addressing him made Endymion a little uncomfortable, to say the least. His generals used to be his close friends, they had been bond by the feudal system at an early age, and grew up hardly noticing the slight differences in nobility unless in public. Now suddenly, the four men he had once trusted with his life seemed stiff and very ceremonial when talking to him. Endymion could only guess what they were like when they met together without him; something they had been doing much more lately, and that would have been unheard of just a few short months ago.

Turning on his general again, Endymion raised his eyes with as much pride and anger as he possessed reflecting in dark blue eyes that glinted like stone.

"Tell Lady Beryl," Endymion growled, "that... that... *witch* would never be my Queen, not if she lived to be the last woman on Earth. If she does seek to marry into power, she had better find someone less aware of her extraneous motives!"

As cold as Kunzite had become, the intensity in his prince's eyes was so startling that he backed up a little, to stand framed in the doorway.

"So that is your answer?" The white-haired man stood as cold and calm as glacier, "You are making a mistake."

So angry he nearly saw red, Endymion slammed the heavy door so it echoed throughout the hall, and shut his eyes against his friend's continuing lauding of Beryl.

Beryl.

The woman had somehow transformed from an annoyance into a real threat in such a short amount of time. The generals and nobles seemed to love her, suddenly, and also suddenly she seemed to be peppered with political notions and ideas that before had hardly interested the promiscuous little Lady of the Court that Beryl used to be.

Her cold, snake-like eyes seemed to seek out Endymion, and chill him the inside out whenever their eyes met. She slithered like a snake, too, the young man thought, shivering, and she teased and taunted him with the power she was slowly stealing from his throne. Endymion was not a man prone to hatred, but what he felt for that detestable woman had to be the closest thing to pure hate he had ever felt. Or else it was fear, or a strange mix of both emotions that pried his eyes wide open in the middle of the night.

When the dark-haired prince was certain that the leader of his guard had vacated the area outside his chambers, he slowly stood and walked to the doors leading to his balcony.

Opening the glass and stepping out onto the marble balcony, Endymion shut his eyes and tricked himself into believing he could feel the moonlight fall across his face, although the white light carried no warmth for him.

'Please, Serenity, if I ever needed you, I need you now.' He thought, heart aching.

Then, like a prayer, some glorious twist of fate, or the generous will of heaven, she was in his arms.

Stumbling back, Endymion allowed a corner of his mind to take the time to gauge the reality of the situation and come to terms with the surprise, before turning full attention to steadying her in his arms, smoothing tangled silver hair, and frantically kissing every inch of her face and arms that he could reach while regaining his own balance.

Within the lessening vertigo she always felt when flying down to Earth, Serenity could only succumb to the one panicky, anxious feeling that forced her arms to tighten around Endymion so much that her shoulders ached in protest.

But she couldn't let him go... she felt she would die if he moved so much as an inch away from her, after so long being separated.

For a moment it was as if she was floating, flying on the wings that sprouted from her soul to adorn her back, watching herself wrapped so safely in her true love's arms, desperately returning his kisses, allowing every fear and sick feeling to dissipate like smoke after fireworks. And she was finally free.

It was a few moments later that Serenity slammed back into reality,

remembering her narrow escape and all she had risked to come here tonight, and how short a time it would take for them to fix the broken link in the electric supply. Breaking away from his lips, she looked fretfully up to the moon before imploring the startled blue eyes in front of her for help.

It had been a long time since they had stared so deeply into one another, since her fingers had pressed into his arms, since he had heard her breathy, silver voice. For a moment they both contemplated that fact before Serenity broke the intense moment with two supplicating words, the first spoken to her true love in a heartbreakingly long time:

"Hide me!"

Allowing himself a quick intake of breath, Endymion nodded slowly.

Saving questions until later, he pulled Serenity through the glass doors and she instantly darted to the darkest corner of the room, reluctantly hiding from the moon's comforting light. In the darkness she was barely visible, a wisp of gossamer white and pale skin and, losing himself for a few moments, Endymion remembered the first time he had ever seen her, barely visible on a dark, rainy night.

Serenity lifted luminous eyes to his, biting her lip.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

He answered in an equally quiet voice, afraid to scare her more, or ruin the blanket of silence that seemed to wrap protectively around them, "Why?"

Sheepishly, she raised her head to look up at him, as he leaned on a nearby door, half hidden in the dark sanctuary she had sought, half illuminated by the soft glow of her home. "I stole away," her perfect voice was marred by childlike shame and mature realization of guilt.

Comfortingly he reached down and she grabbed his warm hand in both of her own, shaking slightly, and brought it to her lips, "I had to..."

It was seconds before he was by her side, pulling her gently to him and the small princess angel instantly burrowed into his embrace, weaving slim arms around his waist. Dimly, he could only wonder how he had possibly even left her side even for the short time it took to get inside.

"It's been... difficult" she admitted, "there is something I can't explain happening to me." Shaking still, Serenity felt no peace at all, instead some strange snakelike feeling was slithering along her soul, and all she could do was bury herself in Endymion's warmth until her head stopped spinning. Unable to stop her mouth, she mumbled incessantly, worried about her kingdom, her mother, her friends, and his safety.

Doing all he could to calm her, Endymion smoothed her hair, kissed her hand, her cheeks, brushed her tears away with warm finger tips and warmer lips. All the while, he felt a slight brushing of almost liquid guilt across his chest; beside his concern for her, he hadn't felt so much as peace since the last time she was so close to him.

She calmed down quickly, content to hold him as they talked quietly.

Endymion was frightened about the Earth, about the hidden darkness they just couldn't seem to fight.

"You don't know who to trust anymore," Serenity observed, her head on his shoulder as they sat in the shadow, watching the moonlight drift across the floor, shimmering further down the floor.

Nodding at her perception, Endymion could only pull her closer to warm the chill now settling over him. "It's true, but..."

She looked up at him, and for a moment Endymion felt peace was only as far as she was from him; shugotenshi, angel, answer to every wish he had ever hung on bright stars as an idealistic little boy.

"I trust you." He murmured honestly.

The darkness was profound, yet for a moment he felt he could see every detail of her face: the perfect arched brows lifted in sympathy, eyes of soft gray surrounded by tears clinging thick lashes like the raindrops that had so delighted her not long ago. Gently he traced the lines of her face, finding her lips and kissing her until he felt her sigh, felt the tears again come unbidden to her eyes at his statement. She was infused with light, so much it he dreamily thought he could see it dancing behind his eyelids when he pressed his lips to hers.

Seeking truth, she met his eyes again, deep blue like the planet that hung so jewel-like in the sky. The blue jewel that sent soft light over her bed at night, the same round orb she would try to reach as a child, stretching young hands up to pretend to grasp the rare treasure which hung so far out of her reach. So blue.

Like a sigh, the truth came only after conscious thought. "I've always wanted to see you," she started, "It was our duty to watch you, the first order Prince of the Kingdom of Earth. A wonderful man, stronger than anyone. Wanting to see you, I went down and stood on Earth..."

As they talked, the moon drifted across the star-strung sky.

"...this darkness, it is spreading so alarmingly, but I am blind to where it is coming from, who I have to be wary of," he found himself saying, as much as he hated to even breech the topic of the one thing he did not want to think about, not while she was in his arms, their breathing and heart-beats in perfect time.

Lifting her anxious face with his hand, Endymion searched her eyes, "You who watch and protect from so far above, do you have any idea, even of how serious this could be?"

Sadly she shook her head. "I know nothing of such darkness," not entirely sure what she was doing, Serenity felt a familiar feeling twist her heart. She had felt it when the sword had nearly pierced his heart, she had felt it when Beryl threatened him, and she felt it now. Running an astonishingly soft hand across his brow, Serenity answered with wide, calming gray eyes.

"But I remember, the Earth goes through periods of extreme darkness, and then eras that could seem nearly Utopian. Times might be hard, but the Earth is strong, she will survive nearly anything."

For a moment she paused, eyes shimmering at the knowledge that the person she held in her arms was more dear to her than anything, her life, her death, her birthright, the Princess knew she could speak a promise directly from her heart, bonded forever to his. "You will survive. I promise." By whatever means necessary. This blue-eyed wonder holding her so close must never die.

"I desire life only if it means being with you."

Hands twined together like silver swirls on parchment paper.

"Believe in me," she told him, wings and shimmers and locks of silver hair falling into him as he struggled to steady his mind and heartbeat.

"I will always believe in you," Endymion said softly, but with a conviction that swallowed any fear and any doubt. She stared in rapture, disbelief, and finally her face overflowed with joy and she took his face in her hands, as on that first night, and pressed her lips to his, again and again, laughing with him as the darkness scattered from their hearts.

The first light of day was mild, barely illuminating the two figures; one light enough to shimmer with even the sparse moonlight available to her, the other entwined so desperately close to the angel beside him that heaven would not be able to tell them apart.

Morning announced herself first to Endymion, who refused to believe the golden light could be dawn, wasn't it just seconds ago the stars witnessed an angel following into his arms? But morning it was, although early, the moon still hung faintly in the sky, sickly pale next to the harsh brilliance of the sun. Tightening his arm around Serenity, Endymion allowed himself the rebellious thought that nighttime should be eternal, soft white light from the beautiful moon should always triumph over the glaring sun.

Eyelashes fluttered against his neck, and although it was heartbreaking to do so, he knew he had to shatter the soft rose-colored peacefulness that had settled over Serenity's perfect features as she lay sleeping in his arms.

Waking slowly, with movements slight and clumsy, she straightened her wings slightly, still limp and tired in Endymion's embrace. In a voice strangled and heavy with sleep she murmured, "I don't want to leave you."

Hands tightened stubbornly onto his shirt, and she snuggled even closer into his arms.

"I have heard this before, angel," he teased gently, "You do not encourage me to argue," he pointed out as she giggled against his neck, pressing her lips to his skin, "but I am afraid I must."

Shaking her head again, she looked up at him, fear invading the calm in the gray moments before, "I don't know when I can see you again."

His gaze sobered, too, for a moment before she felt him gingerly take her right hand. Lowering thick lashes as he looked down, Endymion took both his hands to gently open her closed hand and spread her slim, graceful fingers.

Slowly, he brought her hand to his chest, over his heart, and under the soft material of his shirt she could feel the soft beating rhythm that she had fallen asleep to last night, his heart. He kissed her softly, sadly. "It is not good-bye, Serenity, not as long as my heart is beating."

She even managed a small, brave smile to briefly alight on her lips, "I will miss you like air," she admitted as he guided her to the balcony, the place where just hours ago she had fallen from the sky into his arms. The cold, unfeeling marble seemed different in sunlight.

The moon was setting, she had to hurry. Raising her arms, Serenity shut her eyes and focused on the scarce moonlight that reached the Earth during day-time hours. Wrapping her mind around the sinuous silver strand, she pulled on it to whisk her home. Endymion had his arms wrapped desperately around her from behind, she could feel his heart, know he was fighting to urge to open his mouth and beg her to stay. Regretfully she shut her eyes over her tears, and filled her heart with moonlight, with silver, with home.

Shutting his eyes eyes tightly, Endymion filled his mind and heart with every feeling of Serenity in his arms. Slight breathing, warmth, satin fabric and strands of sweet-smelling hair like silk on his skin, the way her small body fit so perfectly next to his. Her warmth, her light, her peace.

The air of the day was cool, rushing through Endymion's arms as he fell on to the balcony, arms empty and alone. Shivering in the sudden cold that the sunlight did nothing to alleviate, he opened his eyes to the too bright, sun-drenched morning that seemed to him devoid of any light.


	6. Chapter 6: Fear

AN. So I finally discovered the Sailor Moon Abridged videos the other day (yes, I realize I've been living under a rock). I laughed so hard I think I collapsed a lung. Like them, I don't own Sailor Moon.

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**Part Six: Fear**

By Antigone

Tension was rising steadily, seeping into every heart and dulling every smile, even as the sun rose over the breathtaking moon palace.

Mercury walked with quick footsteps down one passageway, her shoes making far too much noise for her comfort. 'Relax,' she told herself harshly, brushing soft cobalt hair back from her stunning yet worried face, 'there is no reason to be jumpy.'

But someone as intelligent as the senshi of water could not deny that her statement was not entirely true. The Earth's alarming descent into darkness was only gaining in momentum, yet it was not the speed at which the evil was showing itself that had all to Queen Serenity secretly biting their nails, it was the places it had manifested itself.

Instead of turning the common people into turmoil, it was the noble houses that were first falling into schemes and plots, and it seemed all but Prince Endymion's closest friends were after his throne and his life. Most Lunarians were sure the nucleus of the darkness was Beryl, but the senshi knew she wasn't the center of it all, only the focus point.

The truth could be far, far worse.

And it wasn't just the Earth that had been troubling the people of the Moon in these past few weeks, Mercury reflected, sadness filling her.

But her train of thought was quickly halted as she came to the familiar doors of the communications room and braced herself as she pushed them open.

As usual the activity was deafening, and intense, and Mercury felt a slight headache begin to pulse just beneath her eyes. Walking up to Venus, she bowed and announced herself formally.

Giving her a quick, dry glance the blonde senshi just answered, "Save the formalities, Mercury, no one is even watching."

It was true, all eyes were glued to certain monitors, most ears were covered by thick headsets, and those that weren't were so busy running errands and delivering messages, that no head was even raised at Mercury's entrance.

Sighing, the shorter girl shook her head. "Have you ever seen it this bad?"

She wasn't just talking about the pandemonium in the room, and Venus knew it.

The leader of the senshi answered hoarsely, eyes still trained on the monitors, "No."

"Venus?" Mercury seemed unsure how to bring this up, but knew it had to be asked.

"Yes?"

"Have you noticed anything... strange," Mercury gestured toward the largest screen, showing Endymion in a heated argument with Kunzite, "about the Prince of Earth?"

Giving her a side-long glance, Venus debated for a moment before deciding to answer. With a deep breath, the senshi leader turned and looked her friend directly in the eye, "Yes. I have noticed what you have, as well. It's more than strange," her eyes drifting back to Endymion, she shook her head, "and I wish I could figure it out."

"Perhaps Queen Serenity could-"

"I think," Venus said quickly, pausing before finishing her sentence, as if unsure of how to word her thoughts, "I think she knows. I'm not sure we should bring to her attention that we know. It might have an adverse effect on the way things are going."

Paling, Mercury turned to Venus, shocked at what her friend was insinuating. "Are you saying this is her doing?" she whispered, "But that is forbidden!"

Venus just shook her head, "I'm not saying anything," she said, "but I think we should just wait until we know more."

Nodding, Mercury crossed her arms against a sudden chill, "You can leave now if you want, your shift is over."

Shaking her head Venus lifted her eyes back to the monitor. "I'll stay."

* * *

><p>In a small yet magnificent room, all white marble and ornate carvings, on an elaborate dais, floated a small orb of light. The white light shimmered off the wall, making the faces and flowers carved into the wall seem to be alive.<p>

It also danced off the smooth cheekbones and silver eyes of Queen Serenity, reflecting the look of the white marble onto her face, a sight both extremely eerie and somehow hauntingly beautiful. Graceful hands clutched the sides of the dais, eyes trained solely on the silver crystal. It turned slowly, almost of its own vocation, seemed to have a life of its own. 'Strange,' the Queen thought, eyebrows knitting slightly as one thin finger traced a side of the Crystal's edge, 'it's reaction. Could this possibly mean…?'

Stepping back slightly, the tall figure of the Queen bowed slightly, lacing her hands together in front of her. Her two streams of hair gleamed in the silver light, falling to the floor, the crescent symbol on her forehead danced with moonlight. For a moment she seemed unreal, ethereal, and nearly transparent, glistening wings seemed to extend from her back.

The crystal still glowed as brightly, sending its light in circles around the room, reflecting a spark of silver off the silent tears running down Queen Serenity's face. "Princess."

* * *

><p>Mars groaned a little, struggling against the urge to bang her head repeatedly into the lovely marble wall behind her. The communications room was like hell on a warm day, and the senshi of fire was too agitated by the horrible foreboding she felt for her princess' future to concentrate too much on the inner workings of the many links alive and buzzing.<p>

Mercury had seemed extremely relieved that her shift was over, looking as if all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Venus had stayed a while, discussing with Mars what to do about the informing the Queen of what they had observed about Endymion.

Lifting midnight hair from her back for a second to cool off, Mars sighed. She had one opinion about that and one opinion only: The Queen must know. Even if Venus' suspicions were correct, then the Queen would tell the senshi to disregard it, and they would. Mars could honestly not see the big deal.

She could, however, see and feel the impending danger, and suddenly, even in the heat of the communications room, Mars shuddered and drew her arms around herself as she shivered.

* * *

><p>'Pale. She is so pale...', Jupiter shook her head harshly, banning such thoughts from clouding her mind. The tiny girl next to her glanced up, question and concern in her beautiful silver-blue eyes.<p>

"Jupiter?" she said softly, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes," the older girl said, forcing a smile over the rush of protectiveness and helplessness that welled up inside of her, "I'm fine, Princess. Don't worry about me."

Serenity sighed, nodding dejectedly, eyes nearly slipping shut as she struggled to regain her footing as she walked along side her friend. Everyone had been so worried lately, so worried.

Serenity was having trouble focusing on just one thought, her mind spun in strange, scary circles and she felt like a little child lost in a horrid funhouse. Endymion's people were dying, she knew, dying and frightened. Evil and darkness festered through her beloved beautiful blue planet, running rapid and unstopped, the crown should have been the first to fall, yet Endymion was safe. He was safe.

Jupiter forced her eyes away from the fading child-princess beside her, forcing herself not to examine the horror and dread inside of herself.

The entire kingdom was afraid for young Serenity's health, the poor child seemed to be waning more and more everyday. She was still the cherished Princess the entire empire at fallen in love with, yet the bubbly laughter and life that spilled from her form once had been a long time absent. Pale, thin, withdrawn, the brightest feature on her sweet face were her eyes, less silver now and a bright blue as if with fever.

It was not something even the poorest farmer could hide from, the concern for the princess weighed heavier than the fall of the Earth on the minds of all the kingdom. All but Serenity herself, that is.

The poor princess' attention was caught up almost constantly in Endymion's struggle on Earth, and as much as the senshi tried to distract her, it was as impossible as pulling the sun from the sky.

She loved him, they now knew it was not a simple crush or fancy. Her life was his if he wanted it, even Queen Serenity seemed aware of this horrifying turn of events. They all loved her too much to give her up.

"Jupiter?" Serenity's voice cut right through the senshi's thoughts, and the taller girl quickly reached out her arm to support her Princess, who stumbled lightly on to Jupiter's arm.

"Serenity?" Jupiter cried, concerned.

Tiny cold hands tightened on Jupiter's large gloved ones, and forest green met blue eyes wide with child-like fear. Stumbling, the young girl put a hand to her forehead, eyes filled with tears, "I'm – "

But her soft voice faltered and her eyes fluttered closed before Jupiter could even register what was happening.

In a voice so torn with fear and grief that Jupiter hardly recognized it herself, the senshi screamed her princess' name one last time as the slight girl collapsed, white as death, into her guardian's arms.

"SERENITY!"

* * *

><p>Entering the Queen's study, Venus bowed low, lifting her eyes to her Queen slowly.<p>

The older woman looked up from her book, giving Venus a smile that did not quite reach her worried silver eyes. "Yes, Senshi Venus?"

Venus cleared her throat a little, and glanced at the queen, "If I may, your majesty, I have something to tell you."

Turning, the Queen raised an eyebrow to her senshi, "Go on."

"It's," Venus took a deep breath and decided, "it's about Endymion."

"Ah yes," the Queen said, "His apparent immunity to the darkness spell."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Venus relaxed a little and proceeded to voice all her concern to the Queen, "I guess it's a good thing in many ways," the senshi said, "by all logic he should have been one of the first to fall to the evil, perhaps right after Beryl. Yet while observations show his people falling to evil in alarming amounts, even his court and best friends!, he remains completely untouched. It seems almost evil itself in its unnaturalness. How can one human resist so much?"

"Ah," the Queen's voice was measured in volume and fluency, yet still quickly cut off Venus' rapidly escalating speech, "yes, it is impossible for one human to resist that much pull to the evil within." She stood, a rustle of shimmering skirts the only sound as she moved to the large picture window and watched the Earth rise slowly over the kingdom.

Confused Venus followed her Queen, pressing, "But then how can Endymion possibl-"

"Because he isn't." The Queen's answer was sure and quick, "He isn't resisting anything because there is nothing to resist."

Venus was silent, letting the Queen's words sink in. "The Evil isn't even trying to overtake him...?" she murmured, "but why not?"

The Queen shook her head slowly, silently. "It is quite an enigma, is it not?"

"He is the sole holder of the crown of Earth, rumored to be the one born with the power of the planet deep within him. Beryl lusts after him, and the generals are his friends. Whatever is doing this should be putting *all* its energy into tainting him with dark power," Venus mused, "it just doesn't make sense!"

"Unless they *are* putting all their energy into tainting him," the Queen said sagely, obviously having thought about this already.

"But you said he couldn't resist it if they did!"

Again lifting her eyes to Earth, the Queen whispered, "There is only one other explanation."

"Outside help," Venus finished the Queen's thoughts, wonder in her face.

"Yes," she answered, "but how?"

"They throw evil at him, and it doesn't affect him at all. As if... somehow it was being taken from him before it could work," Venus said, "but what would be strong enough to do that?"

The Queen looked up slowly, realization and horror dawning on her face.

Slowly, she turned to Venus, whose eyes widened as well. For a moment they stood like that, a single thought in both their minds. "The crystal."

Suddenly, Jupiter's horrified scream echoed from another part of the palace.

For Venus, everything instantly fell into place, and she felt as if the floor had been ripped from under her feet.

"Oh my god. Serenity!"

* * *

><p>Endymion slammed the rolls of parchment onto his desk angrily, and whirled to face his four generals, fire in his blue eyes.<p>

"You expect me," he said darkly, his voice dangerously quiet, "to *believe* these theories and reports?"

Kunzite narrowed his eyes slightly, no respect or feeling in his stature to his prince and friend. "They are the truth, your highness."

"Says who?" he asked, his voice rising, "Beryl? Her network of spies? We have our own informants, means to huge amounts of information and truth. What of them? Why don't we use that?"

"With all due respect," Nephrite sneered, his words a sharp parody to his tone of voice, "our sources aren't nearly as adept at secrecy as Beryl's are. If we are truly being watched constantly from the Moon-"

"Will you listen to yourself, Nephrite?" Endymion said, "Spies from the Moon? An impeding attack? If someone told you of this a year ago you would have laughed!"

"Well I'm not laughing now!" Nephrite said, his voice angry.

The three other generals stood behind him, eyes trained on Endymion suspiciously. "For so long you've been denying knowing anything of this civilization on the Moon, and recently we find out you've known longer than we have!"

"They are not what you think," he started but Nephrite cut him off.

"Perhaps *you* are not what we thought."

"Silence!"

"You cannot order me anymore!"

"I am your prince!"

"A prince without a kingdom," a sly, feminine voice slithered through the doorway, where Beryl leaned against the frame. Her face was all large green eyes and feigned innocence as her lips lifted in a slow smile of greeting to Endymion, "with all due respect, of course, my liege," she drawled, giving an exaggerated bow.

"Beryl, leave my chambers. Immediately."

She laughed, a horrid sound, and shook her head. A small amused smile danced her around too-red lips. "Now, now my dear Prince. I would truly be more careful about what I said and did if I were you."

Walking closer to him, she tilted her head and bit back another smug and knowing smile, "But I guess it is too late for *that*, now isn't it?" She winked.

Casually, she picked up a parchment off his desk and let it dangle from her long-nailed hand, running her eyes down the information printed on it.

"Ah, yes, the Moon." She looked toward the Generals, "I assume my network of spies is up and running?"

They nodded.

"Beryl, how dare you go behind my back with this! Issuing spies in peacetime without royal command is a criminal offense!" Endymion tried to focus on Beryl's face but found he couldn't, a dizziness seeped into his mind whenever he tried to look directly at her.

This time the generals joined her when she laughed, and she circled Endymion, he turned to follow her with his eyes.

"I hardly think this counts as peace time, on the eve of an inevitable war." Kunzite pointed out, and Endymion glared at him.

"So, Endymion dear," Beryl added, conversationally, "fraternize any more with the enemy since we saw you last?"

"So Beryl," he said, attempting her casual way of talking although his voice was trembling with anger, "make any accusations without proof since we saw *you* last?"

She smirked in a way that made Endymion shudder. "Touché, my prince."

Endymion never knew how Beryl had gotten ahold of the information about the Moon, but somehow not only had she found out, but convinced his people of the Moon Kingdom's existence, and that was evil and must be destroyed.

And they believed her.

He felt control slipping from his fingers, and concern for Serenity seemed to cloud his judgment when he needed it most. He needed to warn her, but he had not seen her since she slept in his arms weeks before. At night, the dark-haired prince desperately tried to convince himself that his princess' kingdom must know of Beryl's plot from their surveillance.

However, he knew deep inside that Beryl had a power all her own, a power deep enough to keep the people of the Moon from knowing the Earth even knew about them until too late. The hidden enemy. How blind he was.

All Endymion knew was that he could not let his people be deceived, although he had a sinking feeling it was far too late. His mind called forth the image of his angel, light eyes smiling into his, soft arms drawing him into a hug. For a moment his heart literally ached with need for her. To him, knowing she was safe was the only thing that mattered, even if the damage to his kingdom was already done.

"These people are not our enemies," he said, desperately trying to pull at least one of his former friends back to his side, "they have watched us for thousands of years and never once made a move against us."

Beryl raised her eyebrows. Endymion was really beginning to loathe that smile of hers. "Perhaps they are just waiting for a weakness." She grinned, suddenly, "Yet I think turnabout is fair play, don't you?"

Beryl was asking the generals, who seemed to agree.

She turned her eyes to Endymion, "I am not sure if you have been entirely aware of all the things I have been doing for the power of this kingdom. You see, while they have been thinking they have been watching us, we have actually been filtering into through their system. And now the tables have turned, greatly."

Endymion felt ill. "Beryl-?"

Her smile grew, "Oh, but Endymion, you haven't heard the best part."

Leaning against the doorway again, she spoke over his head, to the four men behind him, "I think now is the perfect time to launch our attack, since their kingdom is currently in utter turmoil."

Endymion forced himself to look directly at Beryl, eyes narrowing slightly, "What?"

"You mean you don't know?" Her voice dripped with counterfeit surprise.

Jadeite bit back a laugh as Beryl walked slowly to Endymion, looking at him with barely contained insolence. "It's sad, really, although it is just the opportunity true victors always take advantage of."

Endymion just silently regarded the loathsome creature before him, forcing himself to take measured breaths.

"How ironic you would be the last to know." She twirled a strand of deep red hair around her finger, "And that I would be the one to tell you," Beryl shook her head, obviously taking deep delight in this situation.

"I don't have time for-"

Endymion's command was spoken over quickly by Zoisite's smooth voice, "We can't expect the Moon Kingdom to be ready for a war at this time, my prince."

Leaning back to look at him, Beryl put a sarcastic hand to her heart, an overdone pout on her lips, looking directly into his eyes.

"After all," she said, her voice was resonant with false sympathy that clashed greatly with the triumphant smirk barely under the surface, "their princess is dying."

AN.

Okay I'm going out of town for a while so I'll get back to editing the rest when I return. :) Just a reminder, this story is 100% finished - and has been for years lol - , so you will see the end of it (it's 9 parts totally). I'm just trying to polish it up bit by bit as I go.


	7. Chapter 7: Tears

**AN.**

Here's part 7. I think stuff starts to happen pretty quickly after this although lots of editing is needed in the coming chapters. :) In other news, I just NOW discovered the "Insert horizontal ruler" button in Edit/Preview Document. Wtf, me?

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**Part Seven: Tears**

Queen Serenity stood, stately and calm, only her eyes betraying the deep pain inside of her as she stood aside with Venus as Princess Serenity lay on a soft bed nearby. On her back, among the pure white sheets and lace, the princess looked so little, dwarfed by the amount of people surrounding her.

Candles lined the bed, their flickering, spooky light making Princess Serenity look paler and sicker than she was, even as she slowly wasted away. Incense and magic, medicinal herbs and ointments filled a table nearby.

Slumped by her bedside, Venus sat, holding Princess Serenity's hand loosely, trying not to tremble too much. On the other side of bed, Mars still kept the post she had for days, breaking from desperate psychic readings only to cry by her princess's side.

To see Mars crying was a scary sight, but Venus knew none of the senshi were taking this much better. What would the kingdom do without their Princess? Whatever would the senshi do without their little Serenity-chan?

Mercury approached them silently, bowing with downcast eyes. "Venus," she murmured gently, "it's your shift in the communications room."

Not looking up, Venus nodded. "Before I leave," she swallowed her fear at the answer, "did you find anything new out from the medical staff?"

The water senshi was quiet for so long that Venus forced herself to look up into Mercury's eyes for the answer. What she saw there broke her heart.

"Her life," Mercury said, "is slowly ebbing, and we can't figure out how to help-" here her voice broke, "oh, Serenity."

Neither senshi had the strength to comfort the now sobbing Mercury. They both knew Serenity was dying. Everyone knew. But to hear it said out loud, echoing in their ears – was horrible.

Venus brushed a hand down Serenity's soft cheek. So cold. This precious, precious girl. She was still breathing, light and soft against Venus' hand, but the bright silvery eyes had not opened since she first fell lifeless into Jupiter's arms.

["V-chan, what do they say angels look like?"]

"Oh, angel," Venus couldn't help letting two hot tears escape and run

down her face, 'Dear little Serenity-chan, what happened to your wings? Why don't you fly away from this?'

Reluctantly, the senshi of love stood to leave. As she walked slowly toward the door, she stopped before Queen Serenity, bowing slightly.

"My Queen," she said softly, voice soft and sympathetic. The elder Serenity's eyes lifted slightly.

"She should not have been able to harness the power of the crystal," the Queen murmured, shaking her head, "how?"

"Is there any way, at all, we can get her to stop channeling it?" Venus said, aware of the stupidity of the question. If there was a way, they would have done it.

"She has to have the desire to stop," the Queen said, frustration barely under her smooth melodious voice, "she has to choose. I am not even sure she is aware she is doing it."

Quickly, Venus turned toward her princess' small body, for the first time in days feeling something akin to hope, "Once she regains her strength enough to wake herself up, we can explain what she is doing to herself, to make her stop!"

"Convince her to sacrifice him?" Queen Serenity looked into Venus' eyes, her own silver eyes wide and trembling, "To hand Endymion over to Beryl's forces?"

Venus lowered her eyes, understanding. Princess Serenity would die before she did that, her little angel would die. "Damn Endymion!" she choked out, "damn those monitors, why did she have to fall in love with him?"

Covering her face with her hands, the senshi fought tears with all her might.

"Even if she stopped channeling the crystal," Mercury said, softly, "it wouldn't help."

"What do you mean?" Both the Queen, Venus' and Mars' eyes were now trained on the small blue senshi before them.

"Evil and darkness of that power have matter, which, you know, can never be destroyed. Just changed." She took a deep breath, shut her eyes against the shimmering of tears, "To take the evil away from Endymion, do you know what she has been doing with it?"

In shock, Venus turned to look at her frail princess, "It's inside her."

Mercury said, her body trembling, "The crystal is the only thing keeping it from eating her alive. Yet it is also slowly killing her."

Serenity stirred slightly, eyelashes fluttering against porcelain cheeks, but she did not wake.

"Does she even know what she is doing?" Mars said, her voice barely concealing the anger inside, "sacrificing her life just for his?"

["Will Endymion ever believe in m-in us?"]

Venus shook her head, "I don't think she realized it at first what she was doing."

[Serenity screamed at the top of her lungs, and a flash of white light appeared at the end of the sword, and suddenly it was harmlessly embedded into the wooden floor, to the left of the prince's shoulder.]

Mercury brushed white-gold hair back from Serenity's face, pressing a soft, cold cloth over the glowing crescent symbol and her feverish forehead.

Stirring again, the Princess' eyes fluttered, and all present gasped slightly.

"Serenity?" Mars asked, leaning over her friend, intense concern in her violet eyes.

"Endymion," she whispered through dry lips, "is..." seeming unable to finish her question, she just looked at Mars pleadingly, half-lidded eyes struggling to stay open.

Heart sinking, Mars wondered if Serenity even knew she were there. "He is fine," Mars said bitterly, "just fine."

"Promise?" the girl asked, desperately reaching for Mars but barely getting her hand an inch away from the bed. Before Mars or anyone could respond, she had slipped back under, fast asleep again.

Slamming her fist into the bed, Mars stood, fire in her eyes and her face flushed and marched out the room, slamming the door hard behind her as she left the room for the first time since they brought Serenity there.

'Even if she did know,' Venus thought, sadly, 'even if she knew, she'd do it again.'

* * *

><p>"You haven't been eating," Beryl said, her voice sickeningly sweet, as she lay a tray of hot food covered with cloth on a nearby table.<p>

Endymion stood silently, unmoving by his window, on arm resting on the glass. He didn't answer.

Tsking a little with the tongue, the woman joined him at the large balcony doors, leaning her back against them and watching Endymion with delight. "You should really start taking better care of yourself, you know," Beryl said lightly, "a war will take a lot of energy."

"If you don't leave my chambers," his voice was quiet and extremely dark, "I will have you killed."

Blinking for second, Beryl look a bit taken aback, then she burst out laughing. "You do that, and you'll be dead in a second as well!"

"I know."

Whatever answer she was expecting, that wasn't it. Her laughter cut off abruptly and she glowered at him.

"Would you care to know what's been happening outside your chambers? Holing yourself up in here after calling me a liar and threatening my life in front of your ex-generals is no way for you to win supporters."

He didn't answer.

"I have something that might be of interest to you-"

"Get out."

"Would you like," she lowered her voice and said mockingly, "to know how your precious little princess is doing?"

Endymion glanced at Beryl from the corner of his eyes. She smiled, knowing she had latched quite effectively to his one weakness.

The Prince of Earth had been nothing but stony silence after his outburst when Beryl had triumphantly informed him of Serenity's condition. He threatened her with capitol punishment for lying to the Crown of Earth, yet the evil Lady had easily recognized the distress in his voice.

It was then that Kunzite lifted his icy eyes and handed the Prince one of the reports from the large unread pile on his desk. With an unreadable look that could not have been sympathy, yet not glee, the general handed Endymion the report that proved Beryl's words to be true.

Moments after reading the words, Endymion ordered everyone in the room to vacate his presence.

He had not left his chambers since.

It did indeed delight Beryl to watch him suffer so, but at the same time she trembled with jealous anger that her Endymion would respond so to the impending death of a worthless princess, from the *moon* no less, and no more than a silly little child. There were times when Beryl wondered what was possibly whirling behind those tortured blue eyes.

Tossing red-black curls behind her head, Beryl stepped back slightly from Endymion's taller form, and pressed her fingertips together. "Little Serenity is actually fighting," she let out a breathy laugh, "fighting with all she is worth just to survive this long. Can you imagine?" She was very amused, "Her very life energy is draining before her eyes, she must know she is dying. And yet the little fool seems to think she actually has a chance!"

Beryl laughed again, watching him. She was baiting him and she knew it.

Still, she felt the dark power swirl around inside her, and although her body was physically smaller than his, Beryl was suddenly aware of how much she controlled and what she could do. She was also very acutely aware of his clenched fists and taut mouth, knew he was barely concealing his despair and rage. His self-control was so ragged at the edges lately.

She knew what he could be capable of, if pushed to it. Endymion was dangerous, and powerful, but so was she. It was delicious. She ran her tongue over her lips.

"Endymion," she said seductively, putting her hand on her shoulder,

"I-" her voice cut off with a strangled cry of pain as he grasped her hand tightly between the bones of her fingers, lifting it away from him.

Shocked and angry, Beryl struggled to free her bruised hand and looked up into his face to retort, or order him to release her.

She froze when she saw his eyes.

They caught hers, fierce under unkept black strands of hair falling over his face. Slightly red-rimmed, trembling, and the deepest dark blue she had ever seen them, they reflected more anguish than any of the furthest recesses of Metalia's power, shone at her with vehement fury.

Endymion threw her hand down, nearly causing her to lose her balance, yet he never unlocked his eyes from hers.

And then she understood: he was suffering beyond anything she could ever imagine in her loveless, evil, corrupt life.

She smiled.

"How do you know?" he asked her, narrowing blue eyes.

"Know?"

"About Se-" his voice faltered, "about the Princess of the Moon's health. How can spies possibly tell you so much?" His voice was now demanding, he stepped back, suddenly a Prince more than man again.

She blinked, "Of course, my operatives have easily infiltrated the palace and medical staff of the Moon Kingdom."

Endymion went white. "You witch," he whispered, hatred burning behind his eyes as he watched Beryl smirk and raise her eyebrows at him.

Suddenly, though, she found herself with a sword point directly at the base of her neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," she told him, feeling her power swirl and gel at the tips of her fingers.

She expected a snappy retort, but instead Endymion just quickly shifted the sword in his hand, his movements furious.

"What did you *do* to her?" He demanded grabbing her arm so tightly she nearly cried out.

"What?" Forming a ball of swirling blackness in her free hand, she struggled to get out of his grasp. Knowing she could destroy him was a wonderful feeling, yet it was also not possible for her to yield this power to the Prince of Earth. After all, he was her conquest, was he not?

However, the sword was suddenly alarmingly closer, and Endymion was enraged beyond what she had ever seen him, "What did you do to Serenity?"

The sound of the door slamming into the wall was like a clap of thunder to the three silent figures around Serenity's bedchamber. Jumping up, Venus turned to face a breathless Jupiter, eyes panicked and filled with tears.

"Come quickly," the taller senshi managed to choke out between breaths, "the communications room."

Quickly, Mercury and Venus exchanged glances, the gravity of the situation reflected in their faces.

"Now," Jupiter pleaded, still slightly gasping for air, "Mars is there. You must see this" bowing quickly, "your majesty." Jupiter addressed the Queen, standing at the foot of her daughter's bed. "This is a dire circumstance. We must all be there!" But with that impassioned statement, Jupiter turned and ran out of the room again, followed by Mercury running lightly behind her.

Queen Serenity turned, silver-blue eyes meeting cornflower blue as Venus lifted her eyes to her Queens'.

"We must go," Queen Serenity said, eyes sad but wise with the burden placed upon her, "it is our duty."

The door closed behind the Queen, and Venus turned to give her sick little Princess one last, tear-filled glance before exiting the room.

"Let no one in here!" The leader of the senshi barked an order to the guard outside the Princess' chambers, "Understood? We should return soon. Remember, no one without direct order from me!"

"Yes," the man said, bowing quickly.

"On your LIFE!" She cried, startling him, before taking off as quickly as her feet would carry her.

The silence was heavy, thick and shocked as Venus entered the Communications Room, unnoticed, and joined her fellow senshi and Queen before the monitors.

She felt a sinking feeling deep in her stomach as she saw the ashen faces of the people around her, felt their fear ebbing from their ragged breaths as Endymion and Beryl shouted at each other.

"What is it?" Venus asked Jupiter, quietly. 'What is important enough to leave the side of my Princess?'

The two words Jupiter answered chilled the blonde senshi the bone, as she turned her horrified eyes back up to the monitors.

"They know."

* * *

><p>Twisting out of his grasp, Beryl took a few steps back, her eyes black with anger.<p>

"You will regret th-" but her murderous anger suddenly dissipated and Endymion narrowed his eyes warily. There was a moment of silence between them as the pure power flowing from Beryl's body slowly ebbed, and she stood before him, the picture of calm.

"You think *I* did this?" She asked, a familiar barely-concealed smile on her ruby red lips.

Endymion just stood on guard, not letting the sword out of his hand. He could still feel his heart beating heavily in his chest, each pounding in his ears a reminder that he was alive. That he was alive, and Serenity was dying.

"Who else?" he asked, harshly, determined to do anything, however desperate or violent, if it had the slightest chance of helping his angel in any way. However, he felt dread sink in his stomach as he realized Beryl's face held the same cruel delight from two nights ago.

Beryl sighed piteously and dramatically, "I'll tell you, Prince Endymion," she began spinning her spidery hands around each other, black strings collecting and combining, forming a glutenous mass of darkness that lightened in the middle, glimmering slightly.

Feeling a little afraid at Beryl's half-smile, Endymion felt something inside him beg him not to look or listen to her, yet he resisted the feeling.

After all, Serenity was fighting, Beryl said, struggling with all her life and strength and love just to stay alive.

["I desire life only if it means being with you." "Believe in me."]

He believed in her, he swore to himself, he believed in her with all his heart, and every jilted faith his life had ever brought him. But faith wouldn't bring her back to him. He had to be strong on his own to fight for her.

"You see Endymion," Beryl's voice called him away from his thoughts, "you see," the darkness streamed and danced between her hands, hypnotizing in its' movements, "this is the evil, pure and powerful. Do you feel it?"

All he could do was nod, eyes locked on it, darkness reflecting in his eyes.

"Do you know this power could all be yours? Inside you right now, feeding you, making you stronger, making you *mine*?," her mouth rolled the last word around, stretched it out, made it sound as if it was something anyone in the world would desire more than life itself.

"I don't understand," he said, lifting his eyes to Beryl's, "answer my question!"

Endymion stepped back, unable to break away from her eyes, his heart pounding too loudly in his ears. The darkness broke into points of oily light, and he saw a small image in the blackness. Serenity falling, lifeless, into a taller girl's arms. The feverish, tiny girl being watched over on a medical bed in the palace. The people crying, the beautiful Queen bowing her head.

He saw himself, reflected back through the liquid black, eyes dark as night, wrapped in Beryl's arms. In the reflection, she lifted his head and pressed her lips slowly and deeply to his, and he did nothing to resist.

Suddenly, a bright light, (Serenity!, his heart cried) broke the reflection into a million different pieces that faded and burned away to dying embers.

And a simple mirror stood before him, in Beryl's hands.

"You wanted to know, Endymion, who it was that did this to her? You did. She is giving her life force to save you. From me."

* * *

><p>Venus was the one who broke the silence, her voice quiet as she spoke to the Queen, yet still audible in the soundless room.<p>

The senshi slowly got down on one knee, bowed her head until golden strands of hair shone on the cold white marble of the floor.

"I'm sorry, your majesty," she shut her eyes against her tears, "we had no idea." 'Oh, god, Serenity. If only I knew, if only I could have stopped this. '

The Queen's face was unreadable. "She loves him." It wasn't a question. "She broke the law, went to Earth."

"Yes," Venus choked out, "and now he loves her, too. And Beryl- Beryl-"

"Wants to destroy us." The Queen said, her hand slowly put to her forehead to hide her silver eyes, shimmering with tears. 'Serenity, daughter, how could you do this?'

Her throat constricting, Mars wrapped her shivering arms around herself as she watched Endymion and Beryl broadcasted through the room.

She needed no psychic powers to know, what everyone present knew: This was the beginning of the end.

* * *

><p>"Endymion? You said anything." Beryl advanced on him, backed him to wall. He was still staring at her, horrified.<p>

"Go ahead," she laughed, placing her hands on his arms, "resist me. Drain Serenity more. Keep backing away from me," she followed him until he slammed into the wall, terrified, "keep killing her. Keep killing her- My Prince."

Slowly, Venus' eyes left the floor and watched the wicked woman walk closer and closer to her Princess' true love.

"Do something," she begged, not sure who she was speaking to, not sure if she was talking about Endymion, Serenity, Earth or her own home of the Moon.

It didn't matter. No one would do anything.

All four would be destroyed.

Wide-eyed, Endymion watched Beryl as if in a daze, disbelief wretched in his eyes, shaking his head slowly, tormented by her words. Slowly the disbelief faded into utter despair and defeat as he slumped against the wall, Serenity's voice echoing in his mind.

["You will survive. I promise." I promise.]

Endymion's eyes focused on a point far away, dull and defeated. He didn't move at all as Beryl pressed her lips to his.

And the senshi didn't even have time to cry out as the screens in the communications room went black.

* * *

><p>When Beryl opened her eyes, the shadows in the room had hardly moved.<p>

Confused, she put a hand to her head, bewildered at her fuzzy memories. She had kissed Endymion, or tried to, but it was seconds before... what? Beryl wasn't sure, blackness, she didn't remember anything after that.

She stumbled as she swayed back onto her feet, green eyes sparkling with anger.

"Queen Metalia, what happened?"

I'm powerful, dammit! What happened? Where is Endymion? She whirled around, but the room was empty. Had he knocked her out? Cut off her connection to Metalia? Created some sort of shield?

"You fool," Metalia's voice was like acid in Beryl's mind, and the girl cried out in pain, putting her hands to the side of her head, "you under-estimated him. You should not have kissed him!"

Frowning, Beryl twisted sinewy fingers through her glossy, gorgeous waves of hair. Eyes lit up, slightly. 'Think what you want, Metalia', she thought, lightly, not focusing too much should the Queen of Darkness overhear her thoughts, 'Endymion will be mine.'

The room was dark as the sun set over the Earth's horizon through the small tower window. The stone wall was lined with unlit torches, it was plain for a room in the castle, yet each side of the room was lined with shelves upon shelves of dusty parchment scrolls, charts, forbidden writings, lost volumes, and magic that should never be touched by human hands. So full was the room with these priceless troves of forbidden information that all four walls were covered, with only a small opening for a window.

With a loud creaking sound, a small rectangle door opened in the floor,

and Endymion quickly climbed out, slamming it shut and coughing. Looking around, he scrubbed the hair away from his face. It had been a long, long time since he had last set foot in the secret archives, and he had sworn he would never would again.

"Chalk it up to every other promise," he muttered, one strong hand violently ripping down an entire shelf, "I've broken." The crash from the wood and scrolls slamming into the floor shook the whole room, the dust and books scattered.

His movements frantic and disjointed, he pulled out a scroll from a deep hole behind the fallen bookcase, yanking it open and walking up to the window to lift it to the dying sunlight.

The light fell across his face, giving shocking illumination to his wide-eyed frantic expression as blue eyes quickly scanned the silver scribed words on the paper, the strange symbols dull with age.

Endymion tightened his fist on the paper, it crinkled behind his fingers. This is what he came here for, the information on the magic ability to travel through light – to travel to the moon.

What he was going to do was completely and utterly forbidden, but that thought never crossed his desperate, panicked mind.

He wasn't entirely sure what the strange golden light was that threw Beryl off of him, but he was grateful for it. He had run from the room with one thought and one thought only chasing through his mind.

Finally, after he had read and memorized every word of the scroll, he tore it quickly, four times in each direction and threw the pieces in the round rack for a torch on the wall. They fluttered into the cast-iron belly, as the last light from the sun glinted off the silver script.

No one else would follow him, at least not using that magic.

Lighting the torch, Endymion watched it burn, the fire reflecting yellow and red across his face, the fire reflected in his eyes, the paper crinkling in the flames.

The moon rose peacefully over the silent grassy hills.

* * *

><p>The balcony beheld a view so breathtakingly lovely that it was near impossible not to become completely enraptured with the scenery surrounding it.<p>

The Earth was amazing, hanging in the sky, curls of white over emerald and lapis lazuli, the brilliant stars sang to all below. The lakes gleamed with a soft blue light reflected from the Earth, the gardens shimmered with magic, trees fluttered in soft breezes causing light to dances and tumble over the marble statues and terraces down below. Yes, the Princess' balcony truly had more beauty visible to it than other place in the entire Moon Kingdom, as could be found no where else in the universe.

Endymion barely glanced at it.

End part seven.


	8. Chapter 8: Why?

A.N. Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me. This is non-profit.

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**Part Eight: Why?**

By Antigone

It took so much effort, so much bone-aching strength just to open her eyes, and even then there was nothing to see. The room blurred and took form before her half-lidded bright eyes, dark through her thick eyelashes.

Serenity would have moaned, probably, if she had the energy. She ached all over and felt so frightened, and alone. There was something thick and invisible in her heart, a thread that pulled the power of the crystal and lead to Endymion, to always keep him safe. She did not know when that bond formed. When she had saved his life the first time, when she had first pressed her rain-drenched lips to his, when she had looked into his eyes and promised him life above her own? It all blurred together in Serenity's mind, it was all she had to think about while she lay here, each heartbeat a struggle.

All she could think about.

Endymion.

She was too weak to protect him now. What would he do? Images haunted her at night, behind her eyelids Beryl laughed and Endymion bent to kiss the evil woman's hand. Beryl was different somehow... her green eyes black, and horns adoring her bony shoulders. And the princess remembered screaming to Endymion, a different name, one foreign to her lips, but her voice was still choked with love and fear.

And she always woke up screaming, if not out loud, in her mind, while the candlelight flickered and her friends watched over her side.

Most of all, some selfish, heartbreaking thought fluttered around the outside of her introspection, lightly touching on all thoughts that entered her mind. Princess Serenity was dying, she knew it in her soul and it chilled the carefree child deep inside.

She didn't want to leave him. To never see Endymion again, or feel his heart beat with hers. She didn't want to leave her friends, to miss Jupiter's easy smile, Mercury's soft voice or Mars' quick sense of humor. Serenity did not want to see the light leave Venus' eyes, or never feel her mother's soft kiss on her forehead at night.

She didn't want to say goodbye.

She didn't want to die.

Tears burned her eyes but Serenity lacked the strength to sob.

The stubborn little girl inside her stamped her foot and dug in her heels. I refuse to die!

'Hold on...'

* * *

><p>'Hold on,' The thought was the only thing burning in Endymion's mind as he stumbled onto her balcony as night bloomed over the moon.<p>

It took him three tries to grasp the handle to the doors, feeling dizzy and disjointed, and so light. His fingers finally closed around the crystal knob, and the door pulled out, a soft warm wind trembling the sheer curtains and obscuring his view of the room.

Endymion quickly walked through them, getting used to the change in gravity, and ready for any guard or senshi who might have stood in his way. Ready to challenge, ready to beg. Anything.

Slowly, light as a ghost dancing away, the white fabric of the curtains fluttered over and out of his vision, and he could clearly gaze around the candlelit room.

It was nearly empty. Huge, curtains and mirrors, bookcases and pretty glass things, all spread before him in varying shades of silver and white, illuminated with a strange blue light from the Earth. Doors led to other rooms in her chambers, other balconies, servants quarters, guest beds, but none of that interested the tortured prince who stood illegally in the room of his political worst enemy.

Darting eyes fell finally on Serenity, laid out like a corpse on the silken pillows and soft white lace blankets of her large bed. For a moment Endymion felt his heart freeze almost painfully in his chest, she was so white and still. Although he finally saw her chest rose and fell shallowly with each struggled breath, the pain in his eyes did not abate.

Hesitantly, he made his way over to her bedside, eyes never leaving her ashen face. How could this possibly be the same girl who had laughed to joyfully in his arms? How could this have happened to someone so undeniably and incredibly wonderful?

Unable to resist, he had to touch her, he ran graceful fingers over her cool forehead. She stirred slightly, and something inside Endymion broke, shattered, and his face crumpled as he pulled her too-light body into his arms.

There was warmth, something golden and life giving, something that finally, finally allowed Serenity the strength to fully open her eyes and steady herself into Endymion's crushing embrace. Blue-silver orbs fluttered open and small hands made their way, weakly, to broad shoulders, pushing ever so slightly so she could look deep into grief-stricken cobalt eyes. Her soft fingertips touched his damp face. The feel of his tears, hot against her skin, made her own eyes water slightly.

Her voice, airy and quiet with lack of use, murmured through dry lips.

"Am I dreaming?"

* * *

><p>On Earth, there are places hidden in shadow, that the silvery moonlight cannot reach, that the darkness covers and hides, where evils converge and dark power is strong beyond belief.<p>

In one of these places, a hollow cave of dripping water and echo of the underworld, Beryl knelt, long hair streaming behind her, no longer gleaming with the red highlights she was so proud of as a vain lady of the court. Her hands were clasped together, long red nails digging into her own flesh, purple-hued lips curled into a sneer. Her lips moved soundlessly, her face locked in a grimace, her body humming with pent up evil power.

A footstep sounded behind her.

Dark lashes lifted and Beryl blinked a few times, slowly, a small smile grew on her face, eyes gleaming a shocking black-red.

"Yes?" She turned.

Endymion's generals stood there, gray-clad, in a perfect line.

Kunzite had his white-gloved fist pressed to his heart.

"We await your orders, Queen Beryl."

Perhaps Beryl would not have sought Metelia had her jealously not triumphed over her human soul, yet perhaps Metelia would not have chosen Beryl if she did not sense Beryl's weakness for power, for Endymion.

Metelia already knew the secrets of the moon kingdom, of the magical place where angels dwell.

And wanted it. Had always desired it. And now she had found her way, through Beryl and the ancient magic of teleportation that had remained unknown to the Earth people for centuries upon centuries.

Outside the cave her troops stood. Row upon row of thousands of soldiers, ready, tall, proud, and born of the Earth weeping beneath their feet.

* * *

><p>At Serenity's hazy question, Endymion seemed to snap back to reality, pulling away from her slightly and gently releasing her back upon the bed.<p>

"I'm sorry," he said shakily, "have I hurt you, at all?" his eyes seemed, if possible, to grow even more anxious and miserable as he brushed her hair back from her face ever-so-gently.

She shook head, thin eyebrows knitting slightly, dismissing his concerns. Again, her fingertips found their way to his face; slowly running over the streaks his dried tears had left behind, "No. I am not hurt," for a moment her lips shook, caught between a brilliant smile or a heartfelt sob, "how can I be anything but wonderful if you are here with me?"

Before her tears could win the battle, he leaned in to kiss her softly, his lips barely brushing her own, taking care to be gentle. He tried to pull away, when with surprising strength her slim arms wrapped around his neck, unwilling to let him go.

He was her strength; her power was within him. Now that he was so physically close, she was recovering quickly.

Weakened by the time spent separated, Endymion did not resist as she pulled herself closer to him, he didn't even try. His arms tightened around her, and he murmured her name into yards of silken hair before her hands guided his lips to hers yet again.

For a few long moments nothing was spoken between them, everything confusing and horrible in their lives was forgotten. Shuttering with her sudden returning vitality, Serenity took triumph in every heartbeat pounding in her ears, every breath that wasn't a struggle, every movement she could make so easily. Yet there was something still wrong, something impure and extremely frightening balled inside of her - the dark energy she had absorbed deep inside her. But, for now, she felt so safe in Endymion's arms. She kissed him again, and then rested against his chest, shutting her eyes.

Breathlessly, he leaned into her embrace, for a moment letting a ghost of a smile rest on his lips for a few seconds. "I heard you were sick."

She shivered a little, "Yes, but already I feel better," then one blue-silver eye opened, blinked dark lashes and widened in shock. Pulling away from him, the Princess worked her mouth for a few moments before she whispered in horror, her face a mask of fear.

"How did you know?"

And he knew he had to tell her everything. And quickly.

For a moment fear filled Endymion like nothing he had ever felt before. The desire to keep Serenity safe clouded his mind as it never had in times past. To see her sitting before him, so small and pale, hair down and falling around her, white nightdress slipping off one thin shoulder, gorgeous eyes wide and looking at him as if she dreaded the news she knew he had to tell her? oh, god, should something happen to her?

She had risked her life just to keep him safe, this perfect person before him might have ceased to live if only to save his pathetic existence. How could he ever have let that happen? She mustn't be hurt, not now not ever.

How was he supposed to look her in the eyes and tell her his people were coming, bent on destroying her kingdom, her home, and everyone she held dear? What could he say to that?

Nothing, he realized as he took her gently into his arms, preparing to warn her of the impending attack, nothing but the promise that she would not die.

She would never die.

'I swear it.'

And he told her everything.

If her sickness had made her pale before, now she had gone completely white, her eyes wide and the lightest color they had ever been, nearly completely silver in the fading earthlight.

"Selene save us," she whispered. "This is all my fault," she murmured, eyes falling to her hands, thin and so small, how could these hands of hers have destroyed her own kingdom? How could hands so small save them?

"No," Endymion said, forcefully, his voice heavy, "No, Serenity, it is not your fault. It was not us." He pressed his lips to her forehead, still kneeling next to her bed as she sat there worriedly. "It was not us."

Serenity lifted her eyes to his, the blue reflecting into them, fading them to soft blue. For a moment a time stilled.

"Nothing this pure and perfect could have caused so much evil," his eyes locked onto hers, searching, drowning.

"But-"

Endymion cut her off with a quick shake of his head, "You made me believe in goodness and magic and love, how could that cause anything but peace?"

Serenity tried to lower her eyes but found she could not tear her gaze from the impossibly blue eyes beseeching her from beneath dark lashes.

_I should never have gone to Earth._

The words were in her throat, resting just on her tongue, but her heart and soul would not give her the breath to say them. She loved him, and she could not regret that.

"I broke a lot of rules to come here to you tonight," he murmured, "I understand your guilt. But my kingdom is lost," here his voice wavered, true pain clouding his eyes. His kingdom, his life. How, as prince, could he have let his happen? How could he have possibly stopped it?

For a few moments of silence the two lovers could just stare at each other, each feeling the hollowness deep inside with the knowledge of their birthright and the responsibilities they bore, and all they risked.

"Were we wrong?" his voice was hoarse, and it was her turn to comfort him.

She kissed him, softly, slowly, taking her time as she pulled away to meet his eyes. "No. I'm not sure how I know, but I know," she pressed her hand over her heart, "this could never be wrong. Not in a million years."

Blue eyes warmed slightly, he ran the back of his hand across her cheek. Turning her head, Serenity brushed her lips against his fingers, for a minute the sensations of silk skin, warm breath and the softness of the hair at the nape of her neck traveled up Endymion's arm until he felt he couldn't even see straight.

Gathering her into his arms, he kissed her, returning the energy she had given so she would never loose him to Beryl. She responded with the desperation of someone who knows everything might be coming to end all too soon.

Serenity pulled back suddenly, falling backwards into the circle of his arms, and he tumbled onto her bed in the unfamiliar gravity.

Breathless, he looked her questioningly for a moment, and she reached up slowly to brush some wayward black hair away from his eyes, her eyes meeting his in the light of the last few hours of the night.

"Stay with me," she implored him.

"Forever," he answered, and then they both lost themselves in another soul searing kiss.

* * *

><p>"Tomorrow night." Mars stood, hands behind her back and clasped together to keep them from trembling horribly. "They attack tomorrow night," the psychic's purple-hazel eyes did not meet the gazes of the senshi gathered.<p>

The girl felt responsible for not seeing this sooner, not stopping this while she could have. How could she have been so blind? How could she not have?

Sensing Mars depression, Venus put a hand on her shoulder, waiting patiently until the priestess raised her gaze to her leader. Then, light eyes into dark, Venus smiled. "This is not the time for blame," the girl said, showing wisdom beyond her years.

Mars nodded, eyes falling back to the floor.

"Tomorrow night," Jupiter murmured, and all eyes turned, slowly, dreadfully to the rising sun, "it is now day. They attack tonight." Her correction threw the senshi into silence.

All knew this might be the last sunrise they'd ever see; yet none could force the words out through the lumps in their throats.

"Everyone," Mercury's soft voice was the first one heard a few minutes later, jumping with kept in sobs, "I- I just wanted to say, well, tell you how much you mean to me," she lifted her head, meeting all their eyes, proud of her words and unashamed of her tears, "you are my best friends."

Mars lifted her head, and Venus reached for Mercury's hand, Jupiter's arm around the smallest senshi's shoulders.

"I'll never for-I mean, I-" A blush stained Jupiter's face slightly, "I'm not good at this sort of thing," she muttered, but at that moment, in her friends' embrace, it didn't matter.

"I would gladly fight for you all," Venus said, her voice ringing strongly in the room, "as I would the crown. My friends," here even her voice suffered as she choked back sobs.

Four gloved hands grasped each other's as the senshi stood in a circle, facing each other, eyes proud and full of love for each friend and sister connected in an ancient show of loyalty.

"For the crown of the moon," Venus said.

"For the pride of our heritage," Mars added.

"For the future of our children," Mercury said,

"For a million more sunrises on the kingdom of the moon," Jupiter said.

"For our people, our princess, and our friends," their voices rang out together, their pledge heard by no one but themselves and the rising golden orb christening the sky with its light. It still had quite a journey across the star-studded sky before it set that night, the final time it would set on the lovely kingdom of angels.

* * *

><p>Venus hurried across the hallways in the early morning, her footsteps hardly making a sound. The attack might not be as surprise as the Earth would like it, but they still had such little time to prepare.<p>

Already the people of the moon were running around like a hive of bees, panic and fear as heady in the air as stress and discouragement.

And the Princess was sick.

And the Queen was nowhere to be found.

And Endymion disappeared completely from any surveillance they could find.

And the Earth attacked in less than 12 hours.

This did not bode well.

She had a feeling her sudden urge to burst into uncontrollable gales of laughter was a side effect of rising hysteria.

"Venus!" Only one person had a voice that melodious and beautiful, yet commanding and wise.

"Your majesty!" Venus turned on her heel, and knelt before the taller woman.

"Rise," the Queen said, her voice uncharacteristically rushed, "I assume everything that can possibly be done, is being done?"

Venus nodded, her eyes stayed on the ground, for she was terrified of seeing fear in her Queen's usual confident gaze.

"My daughter," Serenity said, after a moment, "is recovering."

At this, the senshi's head bolted up, and she looked at the crystal the Queen held suspended in the air above her flawless palm.

It glowed and pulsed with the normal light, no abnormalities or spurts. A small thread of power still wound itself around Princess Serenity's heart and body, and always would now that she had tapped its power, it would always be in her, keeping the darkness at bay and draining her until she eventually died from its effects. The Queen explained this to Venus, who found it difficult to breath from the confusing it caused her.

"So she's still dying?"

The Queen was silent for a moment, "She chose to do what she did, and when we win this war, we'll concentrate on saving her. Right now, however, she is safe for some time." Relief was evident in her voice, although her face was that of someone just discussing political business on a causal day.

It was unspoken law, a Queen first and a mother second. Yet Queen Serenity had always held such a fondness of her little daughter, and it was times like this, her face stoic but her eyes full of tears, that it really showed.

"Serenity," Venus murmured, her mind filled with thoughts of her friend, "thank se-" suddenly the senshi cut off her thoughts, her face pale.

"Oh my gosh! Serenity!" And the girl turned so quickly her boots slipped on the marble beneath her as she turned in a flurry of blonde hair and ran to her Princess's chambers.

_How could I have left her side all night?_

* * *

><p>It was still early morning, and the entire kingdom moved as if they could hear the ticking of the clock counting down until doomsday. Mothers and children were locked safely behind palace walls, while men and women, from farmers to market people, prepared to save the Queen and kingdom they held so dear. The army, guard and senshi swallowed their fear at being dreadfully unprepared and outnumbered, and drilled and planned and hoarded even as the clock struck seven in the morning.<p>

Yet of all the emotions predominant that day, there was one unshakable feeling of sadness that rose above all else. The Earth, that beloved, loyal orb they lived only to protect, was the focus of all the destructive powers they had.

How could they ever raise their arms against Earth?

Yet how could Earth betray them so?

There were tears and there were worries, and there was questions, oh so many questions, but one simple word said it all:

Why?

* * *

><p>AN.<p>

The next part is the last part and IIRC, it's rather long.

So what do you guys think of this story, anyway? Do you like it?

I mean, I wrote it a long time ago so I'm not, like, invested. I'm honestly just curious. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it - rereading it- but I think some stuff about it I like a lot (I'm all, "good idea, self!") and other stuff I'm like, "Um... what? Okay." Just curious.

Also, is anyone out there like an old-school Sailor Moon fan from back when DiC aired the Canadian dub at like 3:30pm on weekdays back in the era of the mini-backpack and The Rachel haircut? Cuz if so, high-five.


	9. Chapter 9: Farewell

A.N: Okay I totally lied before, there are two more parts. This one and one more.

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**By Antigone**

Part Nine: Farewell

Stumbling with a lack of grace embarrassing to a senshi, Venus, out of breath, blonde strands of hair floating back from her flushed face, entered Princess Serenity's personal chambers like a bullet.

The door slammed against the wall echoing like a cannon, and wide deep blue eyes focused on the white-sheeted bed to the side of the room.

The *empty* bed.

Venus was not prone to panic, nor anger, but for a moment after realizing her weakened princess was not anywhere within these rooms, both irrational fear and a few choice words for the guard outside were whirling in her mind.

"SERENITY!" she called, just barely fighting the prick of tears resting on her lashes, "Princess! Where are y-"

"Yes?" a soft voice resounded even over Venus's yells, and the senshi froze as the sheer silky curtains moved aside, grasped in a tiny, perfect hand, to reveal one gray-blue eye peering out from the balcony. "V-chan?"

Serenity stepped all the way through the doors, latching them softly behind her with a muffled 'click', the only sound in the room. The princess was thin, but healthier than Venus had seen her in so long. Her eyes were concerned, confused at her friend's state, but shone with a confidence and peace that was too long gone from her gaze.

Venus murmured her name with something akin to relief and joy, and for the second time in as many days Serenity found herself crushed in a loving embrace until she could barely breathe. The Queen had told Venus herself that Serenity was better but, to see it, to believe it?

"Thank you," she whispered into the heavens, unsure of to whom she spoke, "For bringing Serenity-chan back to us."

And in the older girl's arms, Serenity's body shook with sobs and laughter, combined into one singular sound of sisterly love that echoed in the room.

"Have you gone mad?" she asked, lightly, eyes smiling up at her friend.

"The world has," Venus answered, serious again, her eyes dulling as the weight of all that was to happen again settled onto its place upon her shoulders.

Slowly guiding Serenity to the bed, Venus sat down next to the tiny girl, taking one hand into hers and locking her gaze to gray eyes. "Princess," she said softly, "there is something about Earth I must tell you."

"She knows," a deep voice said from the balcony, one door hung recently opened, the curtains blew in the soft breeze across Endymion's face as he stood against the cool glass, sad eyes searching the senshi's.

In an instant Venus was standing, eyes wide with anger and warning. In battle stance she drew on her power and Endymion's hand moved to his sword.

Venus radiated panic and shock, but it was obvious she knew what she was doing, and how to do it. Within the moment, Serenity stood slowly, one hand hovering over her mouth and Endymion raised his hands and lowered his head slowly in submission. "I came to warn her," he said softly, "to tell you all."

Venus had not moved from her wary position, she watched him carefully with distrust, as Endymion raised blue eyes to meet hers. "I have lost control of my people," he continued, in quiet, measured tones, "This battle must be won. By your kingdom."

He stood only in his black uniform, armor and cape gone, a single sword hung from around his waist. Strands of black hair fluttered across his forehead, and he raised his head not with the confidence of a Prince with a kingdom at his back, never again, but with the inborn pride of a man following what he knew was right.

Slowly, one large hand closed around the silver hilt of his sword, drawing it from the scabbard little by little until the entire shimmering blade was visible. His gaze never leaving Venus's, he knelt on one knee, shifting the sword in his hands. She watched him, her face expressionless, her eyes hard.

Feeling as if air had left her lungs frozen and stung her eyes, Serenity stepped forward, the white simple nightdress hung to her bare feet, her hair falling loose into her face, still every inch a princess. Watery eyes nearly spilled over as Endymion closed his hands around the blade and lifted the hilt in offering to the girl before him.

"Princess," he whispered, as she closed both small white hands over the silver hilt. For a moment the rising sun caught the kneeling prince and the white angel standing over him, so much like the first time, but the weapon now glinting in the light a reminder that it could be the last.

Venus watched this spectacle with unbelieving eyes, her mouth open slightly as Prince Endymion pledged loyalty and protection to the Princess of the 'enemy'. A thin trickle of crimson ran down to the tip of sword, a ceremonial sliver of blood from the small cuts in Endymion's palms. This was an ancient ritual, a rite that dated back before even the Silver Alliance – a bond of allegiance that could never be broken.

Breaking the spell, Venus cleared her throat loudly, and Serenity bid her lover to rise. The heavy sword fell softly onto the lush carpeting. Dizzy with the implications of what just happened, Serenity stood nearly unseeing as Venus and Endymion snapped to attention.

There was much to be done.

"Endymion," Venus said sharply, bowing quickly to him, "I suggest if you wish to help you report to the training fields to assist Mars and I with the battle plans and formations." Her voice taking on a sympathetic edge she added, "Since you know the likely actions these people will take."

He nodded.

"And Serenity," Venus said, her tone heavy, "your mother wishes to see you. Immediately." She glanced from Endymion to her princess, unable to disguise her disapproval and forced acceptance of the situation.

Shaking her head, Venus turned toward the door, adding with a pointed sarcasm that would have made Mars proud, "I suggest you both put on some decent clothing first, however."

The doors slammed on silence. Allowing two hot tears to escape down her face, Serenity lifted Endymion's hands and pressed her lips to the cuts on his palms.

Outside, the taller girl leaned against the wall, her head falling as glittering blonde hair hid the tears on her face. "Serenity," she whispered to the cold, unforgiving marble floor, and found no words to form what she felt in her heart.

* * *

><p>Hands curled together nervously, fingers weaving in and out of each other, Serenity stepped forward into her mother's chambers. Her hair was brushed back into the royal style, a small tiara floating on top of her light bangs. Her dress was immaculate, white and shimmering, her eyes gleaming with more blue than gray beneath black lashes. But her mouth was tugged downward as if she was trying not to sob out loud.<p>

Queen Serenity looked up meet her daughter's eyes. They stood, like mirror images of each other, flowing hair, white dresses, pale skin.

The princess found she could not force her throat to make sound, her lips moved to form one word. Not an apology, she could not excuse something as deep as loving Endymion by saying she was sorry: she wasn't. It wasn't simply, 'I love you', because both the Princess and the Queen understood that the bond between them was motherly love and so much more, it was pointless to try to voice something that obvious.

No, soft pink lips just moved to form two syllables as both pairs of eyes filled with tears.

_Mother._

The Queen took two steps, and enfolded her daughter in her arms, and the Princess shut her eyes and returned the hug, clutching her mother like a small child.

It was forgiveness, it was love, but also, they knew deep in their hearts, it was farewell.

* * *

><p>Violet hazel eyes narrowed, shielded with dark black eyelashes against flawless skin, as Mars scowled at Venus and the young man following her, the armor of the Earth Kingdom across his shoulders.<p>

Jupiter turned slowly, as well, standing beside Mars with an expressionless face, and Mercury lifted her chin slightly.

"Good morning," Venus said. Mists lifted off the Palace lawns, the hurried armies preparing what they could while the senshi supervised.

"Where's Serenity?" Mars directed her voice to Venus, short and harsh, ignoring Endymion, "She's better, isn't she? I want to see her."

"She's with her mother," Venus explained, lifting one gloved hand to the man standing slightly behind her, "this is Endymion." She added, needlessly.

Three pairs of eyes hard like the jewels whose colors they reflected stared back at the dark-haired prince. Not a word was spoken. Endymion felt their bitterness toward him, their distrust, but felt that change to shock as he lifted his hands to show the thin red lines down each of his palms.

Mars cursed softly, meeting his eyes for the first time, "Do you know what you did?"

Dark blue gazed unwaveringly into violet, and Endymion felt some of the shock lift into slight respect. They shared a love and loyalty to Serenity, a tie that could never be broken between the five people standing together in the early morning sunlight.

"What I had to do," Endymion replied. He did not realize how much he had been desiring approval until the senshi of fire gave him a small smile.

"Welcome to the moon," she said softly.

* * *

><p>When the sun set the senshi were ready with the Lunar troops for battle.<p>

As the golden orb sent the very last of its comforting rays across the kingdom, Endymion stood with the senshi, his sword held high, his eyes locked with so many others on the green-blue planet he used to call home. As the first stars appeared in the sky and the soft blue of the sky changed to dark purple, Serenity buried her face in the cool of her mother's dress as they stood on the large balcony before the battle field.

When the light disappeared and the night brought its darkness, the first waves of invasion could be seen on the horizon.

It began.

Venus turned, slowly, and the other senshi followed suit, in the few moments they had before chaos erupted. The Queen stood proud, eyes sad with the destruction she knew she would have to see. Beside her, a smaller, frightened girl pressed her hands to the edge of the balcony, calling to her childhood friends with a choked voice.

"Mars! V-chan! Jupiter! Mercury!" Each name sent a new tear down her flushed, frightened face.

Shaking her head, Mercury gave her a mock-stern look, only the softness and love in her eyes giving her away. Jupiter saluted, winking slightly to her princess. 'Don't worry,' her stance seemed to say, 'it takes a lot to take me down.'

Venus just blew a kiss, 'Imouto,'she mouthed, using the pet name she had called Serenity when the little silver-haired princess was barely walking.

_Little sister._

Mars offered a brave smile, waving back slightly. For a moment the battle-ready senshi felt something akin to regret, pain, fear. What were they giving up?

Yet, the same girl they loved so much was the embodiment of all they were prepared to die for. And, heads held high, they turned back to the impending war, the troops as ready as they were.

The Earth Prince stood slightly apart from rest, aware of the looks he was receiving, aware that most of the kingdom knew his face if nothing else thanks to his fame on the planet they were now faced to fight.

He watched out of the corner of his eye as Serenity called from the balcony to her senshi, who promised with their looks to make it okay. For her.

Blue eyes darkened as he lifted his eyes to the sky. Out there were four men he swore had as much loyalty and friendship for him as the senshi for Serenity. Perhaps angels are stronger than men. Then he would have to be stronger as well.

'I love you, Serenity,' he thought to her, as she returned his words into the wind from high upon the balcony.

Her mother took her hand and led her away, into the depths of the palace where the Queen would use the crystal, to help how it could. She would be safe there, he knew.

'I will return to you,' he thought, 'I promise. Somehow.'

* * *

><p>The room was silent, like death, the sounds of the raging battle fading completely away. Even her mother's breathing was so soft that if felt to Princess Serenity that she herself could be dead and not know it. For a moment a shaking hand paused against her chest, checking for the familiar steady rhythm of her heartbeat, wishing she could be as certain of lives of her loved ones.<p>

Filled with the white glow of magic, the room hummed with the crystal's light, pulsing and surging in complete silence, pulling at the new-forged connection inside the young princess. Sending out a desperate prayer for her friends and lover, Serenity lowered her head and allowed herself, like her mother, to succumb to the crystal's incessant calling.

Outside the palace, death was anything but silent. It was screaming, ripping, exploding all around the beauty that was the moon kingdom. Sweating, Venus ran to block a sudden attack on the wing of the palace she knew the monarchs were in. The crystal was sending a white light to protect what it could, but for once, for once in the history of the entire universe, it was not enough.

As a golden chain of hearts pulled back a few men of the Earth army, Venus heard a snarl behind her.

Turning, watery blue eyes grew in surprise and bloodless lips opened for a scream that never came. Before the senshi stood Beryl herself, Endymion's generals flanking her on either side.

Dark lashes lifted, the dazed trance-like expression fading into lucid shock, as black pupils shrunk into gray-blue irises. Serenity turned to her mother, who was still locked in the crystal's protective spell.

Her heart pounding, hands sweating, mind spinning, the Princess turned on one heel and sped toward the palace doors, heading a call inside her she couldn't deny.

It was moments before the cold air of the outside surrounded a fallen angel, vulnerable and tiny in the storm of battle. But none of that mattered to her: The darkness inside her pulled her mercilessly, concern and fear for her friends ripped at her mind, and her heart screamed for Endymion louder than the war that raged.


	10. Chapter 10: Death

**AN. ***singing The Doors* This is the end. My only friend, the end...

Seriously, though, this is the last part. I thought about splitting it, because it's long but I am - true story - too lazy to cut it up since it's already uploaded into one story file on ff net. :)

Sailor Moon is not mine.

**On a Wing and a Prayer**

**Part Ten: Death**

by Antigone

Venus fell, eyes clamped shut with pain. The sounds of battle wheeled through her ears, pain ravaged her body.

Tarnished and broken, her Love Me chain clattered softy to the ground, still clutched in one blood hand. Opening quivering blue eyes slightly, the fallen senshi saw two blurry red eyes focus and re-focus and then come into clarity: The face of Beryl. The face she had watched first with pity, then with worry, finally with terror from miles above the Earth's surface.

The Earth woman's eyes were now red, blood-shot, glowing with triumph.

Black-red hair flew in storms around her pale face. She was grinning, fangs protruding from purple lips.

"So sad, pretty little soldier," the witch remarked, delight written on her features, "about your lovely kingdom. And your poor, pathetic little princess."

Agony flowing through her entire body, Venus worked her features into a snarl, and with her last bit of strength, spit as much as she could into Beryl's smug expression. "You may win this battle," the blonde whispered, "but I know, someday, good will win the war."

Wiping her face, Beryl shook her head, eyes red with the fires of hell, "The war will never end."

Groaning slightly, Venus shut her eyes, the Love-Me chain falling limply out of her hand. She did not move.

Beryl stood, slowly, alone now, her Generals had found another enemy to contend with. Suddenly an anguished voice raised over the battle, and Beryl's snake-like gaze darted to a small figure clutching a white pillar.

Princess Serenity's gray eyes were locked on her fallen friend, her hands digging into the marble column, her hair coming loose and flying back from her body.

"Venus!" She cried, tears streaming in dirty streaks down her face, dusty with the debris of battle, "Venus!"

Grinning, Beryl disappeared in a haze of purple-black smoke, leaving the senshi's cold body to the shaking arms of her best friend.

Stumbling forward, Serenity took her friend's body in her arms, pale hands desperately trying to wipe the blood from her head-senshi's face. 'She was so beautiful', Serenity thought, 'so beautiful, she'd hate to be covered in this horrible blood, she'd hate...' "V-chan," she murmured, a broken whisper.

Eyes blank with grief, the Princess did not notice a tugging at the darkness buried deep within her, did not notice a hissing building up around her.

Two glowing ruby eyes materialized first, then a figure stood behind the sobbing, white-clad girl, black and churning with evil.

* * *

><p>Endymion's eyes darkened as he locked swords yet again with the man who used to be his best friend in the world. Kunzite's face was devoid of any emotion but fierce determination to do his new master's bidding.<p>

`Even if it means my death,' Endymion thought grimly, dodging another blow to the shoulder.

Turning quickly to avoid Kunzite's death blow, he saw his three other

Generals, standing off the side, watching the battle and waiting, he saw, for Endymion to tire. So they could attack him at once.

He had no chance.

"Please," he said, desperately, "this is a useless battle! Look at all who are dying for no reason but Beryl's pride! Stop this, please," he asked, reaching out a hand, his sword still held in the other.

The red cut on his palm had reopened, and slowly dark blood oozed from beneath the scabbing. Kunzite raised one, coal-black eyebrow before an ironic smile fell across his face.

"Looks as if we both belong to someone else now," the general said, signaling to the others.

A scream echoed across the palace grounds. 'Serenity-' Endymion thought, but it was the last thing that passed through his mind before everything went black.

* * *

><p>"Princess," an oily voice glided to Serenity's ears, and she finally looked up from Venus, sliding gray-blue eyes to the side nervously.<p>

That voice was so familiar.

"Who's there?" She stood, her dirty white dress swishing around her legs, her eyes searching the nearby area. The battle was soundless to her now, her eyes blind to everything around her. "Who is it?"

Ice-cold hands curled around her small shoulders, red eyes gazed over her head, the murmuring continued in her ear.

"I think you know, Serenity, Princess, who is calling to you now."

The darkness locked away inside her swirled and tugged at her belly, demanding release. The purity of the crystal clashed inside her and dimmed her powers. Grey eyes faded, and blinked, slowly as they turned to the scenes before them.

Mars, black hair flowing around her body, laid out beside nameless soldiers she had tried to lead to victory. The brilliant red of her uniform was faded, the white stained with her blood. She did not breathe. Serenity's heart screamed inside her chest, her mouth could not move.

Jupiter, kind green eyes closed forever beneath black lashes, laid out on the palace steps. No visible sign of death except the stillness of her chest, her paleness of her once expressive face.

Mercury, gentle Mercury, crumpled in a wash of blue and red, defeated while defending the protected fortress where the young women and children huddled in fear.

The Princess felt shards of something burning dig relentlessly into her heart at the visions Metallia was showing her.

Those very children Mercury had been trying to protect... those children... all slaughtered. Serenity fought a terrible urge to vomit, to cry, to tear at her hair, to die.

"This war," the voice continued, "these deaths. They weigh on your soul. They demand your repentance."

"No," she whispered, softly, weakly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear Princess," the voice dripped with sarcasm, with darkness, "but the fact remains: without you, none of this would have happened. This is your fault." Serenity lifted her hands, which were covered in Venus's blood.

Something deep inside her burned to tell her that it's not true. This isn't her fault, that it couldn't be. Something... someone... had told her... her mind grew fuzzy.

Dizzily, her knees gave way, her eyes closed slowly, and she fell toward the ground.

* * *

><p>Endymion opened his eyes, putting a hand to his aching forehead tenderly.<p>

Pulling it away, he cursed softly when he saw his fingers stained with crimson.

Sweaty strands of black hair fell over the wound, into his eyes and he muttered in annoyance as he pushed them back, wincing in pain.

He stood carefully, glancing around him. For a moment his eyebrows knitted together, fear filled his chest. Where was the battle? Where was the enemy? Where was Serenity? She had screamed. She was in danger, he could feel it, deep in his heart.

All around him, flowers grew, their heady scent filling the air. Emerald green grass fanned in the slight breeze, white clouds dotted the perfect baby-blue sky, the golden sun beamed with brilliance. Earth, Endymion realized, happiness filling his heart. His home, his planet. Kneeling he put a hand to the soft grass. For a moment he paused, eyes gleaming with confusion. He pulled his hand back, looked at his marked palm. 'Why am I wounded?'

Deep blue eyes searched his armor, torn and dirty, sweaty and bloody.

Endymion felt his heart pound furiously. Something was very wrong. And he hurt. From a million cuts, wounds and bruises making themselves known all over his body.

"Say the word, and you'll be healed."

Endymion's head snapped up, his eyes widening when he realized he wasn't alone. Before him stood a tall girl, wrapped in a light green dress, with soft red hair falling down her back, and beautiful, bright green eyes. She smiled, pure white teeth beneath soft pink lips.

"Say the word," she repeated, still locking her eyes with his, "and all your wounds can be healed."

"Beryl," he murmured, not quite sure where the name came from but certain it was the correct name. For a moment, the name called to mind evil, snake-like eyes and fanged teeth, but that could not be right. The girl before him was gorgeous, not hideous.

At the sound of her name, the girl's creamy skin tinted to a lovely pink color and she smiled again, delight across her features. For a hazy moment Endymion felt he'd have to do anything to see that smile again. Anything. His mind searched for a foundation, freewheeling.

She stepped forward, put one soft hand on his. "Now," she said softly to him, he smiled back at her, enraptured, "What hurts?"

* * *

><p>Dark eyelashes lifted, perfect eyes narrowed. Blue and gray danced lovely in the fire of tired eyes, white hair curled around the bright glowing symbol of the crescent moon.<p>

The white, white light of the crystal pulsed.

"No, Endymion," the Queen said, her voice melodious and soft, "I will not allow you to be caught in this mind trap."

A thin line of white caught the air.

"You love her too much for this," her voice bit out the last word with contempt for her enemy's resort to mind-control and trickery.

"Remember." she whispered to the wind.

* * *

><p>The Prince of Earth shook his head, biting his lip.<p>

'What hurts'? Why was that question so difficult? He had a million wounds all over. His head ached, his palms stung, his shoulder ached... so easy it would be to hold out his hand and have her start with healing the slice across it. Heal his pain, make it stop.

So why could he not answer her?

"What hurts?" she said a second time, her voice not changing, as concerned and beautiful as the first.

He couldn't answer, because something hurt him so much more than all his wounds, pulled at him, tortured him beyond mere physical scratches.

Separation, desperation, dedication, longing...

"What hurts?"

Endymion lifted confused and sad blue eyes to the girl before him, and the truth leapt to his tongue even as the ache filled his chest.

"My heart." He whispered.

She frowned harshly, her scowling making her face become ugly.

"Bring me to Serenity," he pleaded to her, somehow knowing she had to keep her promise, had to end his pain the only way she could.

She hissed.

And Endymion slammed into reality, as Serenity fell into his arms.

"Endymion?" She cried, trembling, he realized, and crying.

"Serenity," he whispered, pulling her close for a moment, savoring the feeling of holding her, knowing she was safe.

"You're alive," she murmured over and over again into his chest. Lifting her eyes to his, Serenity let a sob pull on her lower lip, "The senshi," she trailed off, her grief telling the rest of the tale.

"Oh, Serenity," he breathed, could not say anything else. His eyes told her everything he couldn't.

Footfalls surrounding them made the two lift their heads, and Endymion went white. Serenity whimpered slightly with the pain of the evil pulsing inside of her.

The Generals stood with the pride of victory, and in the middle of them, angry, ugly, and pulsing with power, stood Beryl.

Serenity felt the world tilt, her eyes burning, her heart aching each time it pounded in her chest. Endymion still held her hands, his grip on her slender fingers almost painful.

"Beryl," the princess whispered the name through dry lips, her voice a mere breath of air.

"The very same," the woman, no, devil before her said, lifting her hands. The air shimmered between her fingers.

"What is that?" Serenity said, stepping back. Endymion pressed his hand to her shoulder, and pleaded with his generals to stop. His voice; along with Beryl's who was telling him it was no use, that his friends' minds were no longer their own, had lowered to a buzz in Serenity's ears.

Her kingdom, her people, her friends. This witch had taken them all.

Anger and hatred so hot it burned flooded through her veins, the evil energy she had buried inside herself to save Endymion stirred to life. She narrowed her eyes dangerously, her hands shaking with this new feeling of power.

"You are mine, Beryl," she whispered, drawing on the energy inside her.

Beryl's red eyes narrowed and the air that was shimmering in her hands suddenly solidified into a gleaming sword.

"DIE!" Beryl screamed, lifting the sword in her hands.

"You first!" Serenity cried, lifting her arms and engulfing herself in the power pouring from inside her. She pressed her hands forward and a wall of white glimmering power knocked the sword from Beryl's hands.

Cursing, the taller woman stumbled, her eyes vivid with loathing.

Endymion darted forward in a blur of black and red, lifting the sword with his own hands and turning it on Beryl, "Leave her alone!"

But before either could make a move, Nephrite and Jadeite had Endymion by the arms, Kunzite locked an arm around his neck, raising a dagger warningly.

With a quirky grin completely unlike him, Zoicite easily plucked the sword from Endymion's hands and bowed low to Beryl, presenting it like a coronation scepter.

The prince struggled, eyes wide with fear. When he met Serenity's gaze, his heart dropped, blood freezing like ice.

The familiar soft blue eyes had hardened into two gems, narrowed and determined. They held no fear. They held no love. Only hate.

He remembered, suddenly, her tear-filled eyes looking into his.

["I'm scared... there is something I can't explain happening to me..."]

Beryl's evil grin, ["You wanted to know, Prince Endymion, who did this to her?"]

Gasping, suddenly, he saw what was happening. She was being deceived, the power she used was not hers...

"SERENITY!" He pulled at the men holding him back, struggled with all his might, "Serenity, STOP! PLEASE!"

Her eyes were dull, narrowed, not moving from Beryl's as she pulled more power from inside her small body.

"Please," he said eyes not moving from hers, and for a moment the princess's gaze slid to his, and she stared at the tears collecting in his eyes.

"She will kill you if you give into hatred this way," he told her, keeping his voice calm as his best friend lifted the dagger to his throat.

Serenity blinked, slowly.

"Your power is love, it is light, it is not the darkness you use now. Stop it! This isn't the way to win this war!"

The dagger drew a thin, thin line of blood across his throat, the deep red shocking against his pale skin.

A tiny sliver of fear fed into crystal blue eyes, the princess lowered her hands, turned to Beryl.

"My power," she whispered, wisps of hair still a pure silver-white against her dirt-smeared face, she stared at her hands, "the crystal. "

Inside her she could feel the crystal's familiar energy swirl, linked back through her heart and mind to her mother in the palace. The crystal was still quiet, threading through her, protecting her. Then what had she been frightening Beryl with?

What?

Shuddering, she realized she had almost given into to the darkness inside her, almost _helped_ Beryl when she had wanted to defeat her.

"Serenity!" Startled by her lover's voice, Serenity looked up just in time to see Beryl swing the sword toward her stomach.

Holding up her hands, the princess shut her eyes and screamed. Endymion's eyes widened, then intensified to a blue darker than the night sky.

Queen Serenity gasped, lifting her head from her trance, standing so her chair fell behind her and ran out of the room.

The battle field seemed to freeze, like the stars suspended in the sky.

Endymion elbowed Kunzite in the stomach, pulling away in a burst of strength from Jadeite's grasp, and narrowing missing the daggers of the other two men.

There wasn't time, nothing he could do save her, except -

["I desire life only if it means being with you."]

He didn't even need to think. The sword sliced through his side like fire, and his knees gave way before he even realized he was falling.

Serenity screamed his name as he fell back into her arms, her legs giving way as well so they both collapsed onto the marble stairs behind them.

"Endymion!" She screamed again, putting a warm hand to his face. He forced his eyes open, made himself smile slightly against her palm.

Her eyes were quivering, so full of fear and of pain, "Don't leave me," she begged him, her fingers brushing dark hair away from his blood-shot eyes, "promise you won't leave me." Tears were already falling down her face. In the background, Beryl had dropped the sword, backed away, the generals surrounding her as she screamed. Neither noticed her at all.

"I'm sorry," he said, softly, as his eyes filled with tears and his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood, "I can't lie to you."

"I love you," she said, her eyes still unfocused, grief-stricken, "I love you, I love you, I'm so sorry, Endymion, I never meant for this to happen," she lowered her head to his shoulder, sobbing, and wrapped her arms carefully around his neck, avoiding his injury. "I'm sorry, Endymion."

"Serenity," he said softly, eyes closing. He meant to say he loved her, but his breath left his body before the words could be formed. But it didn't matter.

She knew.

Shutting her eyes, putting her hands to her head, Serenity cried out, her anguished voice echoing throughout the field, over the bodies of her subjects, the peaceful faces of her friends, through the palace, to the sky, the stars, the Earth.

This was the end.

"Serenity," a soft voice murmured, and lifting her hands from her ears, the trembling girl looked to either side.

"Mother?" she whispered, brokenly, but the area around her was completely empty. "Mother. " she shuddered, her hands lifted to her face then she pulled back in horror when she saw they were stained with Endymion's blood. Blinking, she noticed the stillness in his face, the slowing of his bleeding. He was dead.

Heaving, gagging, Serenity stumbled to her feet, hair a mess, white dress dirt and blood-stained, wings gone. A fallen angel, barefoot on the threshold of hell.

And Beryl was turning around, her eyes bloodshot and incensed.

Shaking her head, she pulled inside her, but the crystal's power wouldn't budge from it's protective shell around the evil knot inside her.

"Mother!" she screamed, backing against a pillar, "Mother, I can't use the crystal!" Shutting her eyes, she pulled on the crystal's power, tugged at it mentally until it physically hurt inside her chest. She pulled and pulled as her heart pounded deadly in her ears. 'The crystal could bring him back,' she thought frantically, 'the crystal could bring him back to me.'

"No!" A strong voice interrupted her thoughts, her mother's voice.

Queen Serenity pressed her hand against the side of the palace, the other hand clutching the crystal. Her face was pale and sweating, her body weakened.

Shutting her eyes, she again called to her daughter through their link, not daring to try to move.

"Run Serenity! Get out of there!"

The princess was shaking violently now, her shoulders heaving as she backed away from her love's body, from Beryl's approaching form. Turning, she ran as fast as she could, her bare feet pounding on the marble. Smoke and fire burned her eyes, death in every section of her vision.

"Mother, I promised him he'd live! I promised he'd survive!" She was choking on her tears, tripping over the fabric of her dress.

"Serenity, if you use the crystal to save them, it will not longer protect you against the evil buried inside you. You will be destroyed." Her mother's voice echoed in her head, and Serenity let one small hand slam against a pillar, stopping her body as she lifted her head.

"Run, Serenity!" But the princess didn't move. Fingers curled against the marble.

"I could release the darkness inside me," she murmured, "Then I could use the crystal, I could save him, save them all."

Her mother didn't answer, her shocked silence answer enough.

"No," she finally whispered as her only child turned, and confidently, courageously, with all the pride of princess, walked straight back the way she came.

Beryl only bothered to turn from blasting the last of the Lunar soldiers when Serenity was right before her, standing by the body of Endymion, her white dress swirling around her legs, her hair down and tumbling down her back.

Serenity bent, long fingers curling around the hilt of the crimson and metal sword that claimed her beloved's life. She lifted it to show Beryl, the blood-stains already drying, the metal dark with the evil inside it.

'Please, mother,' Serenity thought.

'Serenity, this is forbidden,' the grief in her mother's voice made the princess falter.

"I'm sorry, mother," she whispered out loud, "for every rule I've broken. But please don't make me break my promises, too."

The Queen answered her daughter, her voice strong like the look in the younger Serenity's eyes, 'I forgive you, angel.'

The sword in the Princess's hands began to glow, from black to pure, beautiful white. The stone inside the hilt cleared to a dazzling opal color, the blood disappeared from the blade. From far away across the grounds, Queen Serenity held the pulsing crystal, as she poured and poured it's energy into the sword.

Beryl smiled, "Ready to die, Princess?"

Princess Serenity's face was as peaceful as it had ever been. Her eyes serene and her smile kind. Her dress glowed white, and a shadow of pale wisps of light, like wings, floated behind her. She looked every inch the angel she had tried to become for Endymion so long ago.

"Yes," she whispered.

And she twisted the sword in her hands, slicing the blade through her own stomach.

'Our bond is not broken,' Serenity choked to her mother, as her knees gave way and her vision blurred, 'Endymion... senshi… I join you.'

"What?" Beryl was screaming in the background, but Princess Serenity didn't hear, didn't care.

The bubble of evil inside her had burst the second the blessed sword pierced her flesh. The power of the crystal bubbled forth from her body, gleaming and cleansing and so bright, pure white, literary tearing her apart.

It engulfed Beryl, the prince, the senshi, and broke into a million points of light.

The angel smiled, her eyes fluttering shut as she died.

She had a promise to keep, after all.

* * *

><p>Trembling, Queen Serenity fell to her knees, staring at the empty field where her princess, senshi and worst enemy had been just moments ago. Now they were all gone, the bodies scorched finer than dust by the crystal's power. But bodies didn't matter, it was their souls Princess Serenity had given her life to save. Beryl was sealed away, and maybe, if destiny favored the Princess and those she loved, they could all live again.<p>

Shutting gray eyes, the Queen's pale face faltered and she fell back on

to the rubble, staring at the lovely stars blinking in the sky. The last wind that would ever float its way through the moon kingdom ruffled the tendrils of her hair.

'They _will_ live again,' she thought, suddenly sure, pride filling her heart, 'you've kept your promise, my angel Serenity.'

Then her eyes fell shut.

And the breeze died, the silence falling across the ruins. Far, far away in the jewel-studded sky, the Earth rose.

~~ Fin

* * *

><p>A.N<p>

I think that now all my old Sailor Moon fanfiction stories are up now! Except one, which is a cheesy little song fic to On My Own from the musical Les Miserables. I know ff net does not allow song fics so I was thinking of removing the lyrics and uploading it just as a short inspired by On My Own? I'm not sure it's worth it.

I also keep thinking of little shorts I could write, like little conversations that I feel should have happened (or maybe did happen!) in canon. Similar to Ex Post Facto (but maybe not all of them would be as serious as Ex Post Facto). Now I'm babbling.

Anyway, let me know what you thought!


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